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(CNN) --
For six months, the days have gotten shorter and the nights longer in the northern hemisphere.
But that is about to be reversed.
The 2022 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the official start of winter, is this Wednesday, December 2.
Its operation has fascinated people for thousands of years.
First we will look at the science and the precise timing of the solstice.
Then, we will discover some ancient traditions and celebrations around the world.
The science and time behind a winter solstice
The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun appears in its southernmost position, directly overhead at the distant Tropic of Capricorn.
The situation is reversed in the southern hemisphere.
There, the December solstice marks the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer in places like Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa.
When does it happen exactly?
The solstice usually, but not always, occurs on December 21.
The time the solstice occurs and the day itself changes because the solar year (the time it takes for the Sun to reappear in the same place as seen from Earth) does not exactly match our calendar year.
If you want to be super-precise about observing it (and who doesn't?), the exact time of the 2022 winter solstice will be Wednesday at 9:48 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), according to EarthSky.org and the Almanac. of the Farmer.
That's almost six hours later than last year.
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Here are some examples of when 21:48 UTC will be at various local times in places around the world.
Due to the time difference, most of Asia will receive the winter solstice on Thursday, December 22.
Tokyo: 6:48 a.m. Thursday
Hanoi, Vietnam: 4:48 a.m. Thursday
New Delhi: 3:18 a.m. Thursday
Istanbul: 00:48 am on Thursday
Jerusalem: 11:48 p.m. Wednesday
Copenhagen, Denmark: 10:48 p.m. Wednesday
Charlotte, North Carolina: 4:48 p.m. Wednesday
Winnipeg, Manitoba: 3:48 p.m. Wednesday
San Francisco: 1:48 p.m. Wednesday
Honolulu: 11:48 a.m. Wednesday
To check the time where you live, the EarthSky website has a handy time zone conversion table.
You can also try the conversion tools at Timeanddate.com, Timezoneconverter.com, or WorldTimeServer.com.
In which places can the effects of the winter solstice be seen and felt most?
Daylight decreases dramatically the closer you are to the North Pole on December 21.
People in hot Singapore, just 137 kilometers or 85 miles north of the equator, hardly notice the difference, with just nine minutes less daylight than during the summer solstice.
At a higher latitude, in Paris, it still logs a respectable eight hours and 14 minutes of daylight for a walk along the Seine.
The difference is starkest in frigid Oslo, Norway, where the sun will rise at 9:18 am and set at 3:12 pm, resulting in less than six hours of anemic daylight.
Residents of Nome, Alaska will be further deprived of sunlight with only three hours, 54 minutes, and 31 seconds of very weak daylight.
But that's downright generous compared to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
You are inside the Arctic Circle and you will not see a single ray of daylight.
What causes the winter solstice to occur?
Because the Earth is tilted on its axis of rotation, we experience the seasons.
As the Earth moves around the sun, each hemisphere experiences winter as it moves away from the Sun and summer as it tilts toward the Sun.
Wait, why is the Earth tilted?
Scientists aren't entirely sure how this happened, but they believe that billions of years ago, as the solar system was taking shape, Earth was subjected to violent collisions that caused it to tilt.
What other seasonal transitions are there?
The equinoxes, both spring and fall, occur when the Sun's rays are directly over the equator.
On those two days, everyone has the same length of day and night.
The summer solstice is when the Sun's rays are furthest north over the Tropic of Cancer, giving us our longest day and the official start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
Winter Solstice Traditions and Celebrations
It's no surprise that many cultures and religions celebrate a holiday, whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or pagan festivals, which coincides with the return of longer days.
Ancient peoples whose survival depended on accurate knowledge of seasonal cycles commemorated this first day of winter with elaborate ceremonies and celebrations.
Spiritually, these celebrations symbolize the opportunity for renewal, a letting go of bad habits and negative feelings, and an embrace of hope in the midst of darkness as the days begin to lengthen once more.
"Christmas takes many of its customs and probably its date in the calendar from the pagan Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Kalends," Maria Kennedy, an assistant professor in the Department of American Studies at Rutgers University, told CNN Travel in an email.
Saturnalia began Dec. 17 and Kalends began Jan. 1, said Kennedy, who specializes in Christmas studies.
Citing academic research, Kennedy said the early founders of the Christian church condemned the practices of these holidays, but their popularity endured.
The Christian observance of Christmas eventually aligned around the same time on the calendar even though there is no specific date set in the Gospels for Jesus' birth.
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Ceremonies for the summer solstice that unite attraction and tradition
Many of the ancient winter solstice symbols and ceremonies are still alive today or have been incorporated into newer traditions.
These are only some of them:
alban arthan
In the Welsh language, "Alban Arthan" means "Light of Winter", according to the Farmer's Almanac.
It might be humanity's oldest seasonal festival.
As part of druidic traditions, the winter solstice is considered a time of death and rebirth.
Newgrange, a prehistoric monument built in Ireland around 3200 BC.
C., is associated with the Alban Arthan festival.
Saturnalia
In Ancient Rome, Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for seven days.
It honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture.
People enjoyed carnival festivities that resembled modern Mardi Gras celebrations and even delayed the war.
Saturnalia continued into the 3rd and 4th centuries AD
As the Roman Empire fell under Christian influence and eventual rule, some of the festival customs merged with the celebrations around Christmas and New Years.
dongzhi
Not only ancient Europeans commemorated the annual occasion.
The Dongzhi Winter Solstice Festival has its roots in ancient Chinese culture.
The name roughly translates to "extreme winter."
They thought this was the apex of yin (from Chinese medicine theory).
Yin represents darkness, cold, and stillness, which is why it is the longest day of winter.
Dongzhi marks the return of yang and the slow rise of light and heat.
Dumplings, dumplings, are generally eaten to celebrate in some East Asian cultures.
celebrations
Many places around the world celebrate festivals that honor the winter solstice.
Here are some of them:
Montol Festival
Better known for the pirates than the solstice, the town of Penzance on England's southwest coast revived the delicious tradition of a Cornish procession, complete with dancing, masking, singing and more.
stonehenge
The UK's most famous site for solstice celebrations is Stonehenge.
During the winter solstice, visitors have traditionally been given the opportunity to enter the imposing and mysterious stone circle for a dawn ceremony led by pagan groups and local druids.
The English Heritage Society says the 2022 celebration will take place on Thursday, December 22.
It will be broadcast live on his YouTube channel.
Lantern Festival
In Canada, the Vancouver Winter Solstice Lantern Festival is a glittering celebration of solstice traditions spread throughout the neighborhoods of Granville Island, Strathcona, and Yaletown.
CNN's Katia Hetter and Autumn Spanne contributed to this article.
Winter Solstice