text: Amount of daylight time is caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation compared to its orbit around the Sun.  In the summertime (either North or South hemisphere), the axis is pointed toward the Sun, and in the wintertime it is pointed away from the Sun.\n\nThe seasons are "opposite" between the hemispheres, because while the axis is pointed away from the Sun in the North, it is pointed toward the Sun in the South.\n\nThe longer daylight hours are what makes summer "summer".  Yes, the Southern Hemisphere has longer daylight hours in their summer.