The Effect Effect

The effect effect is the undoubted extra stickiness and shareability of an idea by calling it an effect.

There’s something about summing up a piece of research or an observation with the name effect that makes it a whole lot easier to communicate and remember.

Compare, for example:

The more solar panels installed in a neighbourhood the greater chance of a growth of solar panels in that neighbourhood
The neighbourhood effect

And, for those of you wondering why it’s not the affect affect, here's a sketch explaining when to use affect vs effect

Perhaps because of the effect effect, I've covered a lot of effects already in sketches (though there are many more to do). See all "effect" sketches

Published 2 Jun 2018

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Solar system planets — distances to scale

The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice…The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice

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