Calendar reform proposal would start each season on the 1st

Seasons would start on the 1st: the proposal to reform the calendar

The spring equinox falls each year around March 21. The summer solstice, near June 21. Neither of those dates coincides with the start of a month, and that is the problem: the calendar measures time with two different rules, one for the months and one for the sky. On that inconsistency a proposal for a total reform has been built —redistribution of days included— that would leave each season starting on the 1st of its corresponding month.

365 days distributed so each season starts on the 1st

The proposed distribution adds up to exactly 365 days and breaks with the tradition of months of 28 to 31 days. Winter would begin on January 1 with January (30), February (29) and March (30). Spring, on April 1, with April, May and June, all three of 31 days. Summer, on July 1, with July (31), August (32) and September (31): August would be the only 32-day month of the year. And autumn, on October 1, with October (30), November (29) and December (30).

The idea goes beyond the dates. It also proposes burying the current names —the disorderly numerals, it is said— and replacing them with others tied to time, the environment or astronomy, in the style of the calendar that popularized terms such as Floréal or Brumaire.

Why the year cannot start at the perihelion

The most disputed point is not the months, but where to cut the year. The perihelion —the point of Earth's orbit closest to the Sun— occurs between the current January 2 and 3. It would be the natural candidate if astronomy alone were considered.

The drawback is that anchoring the year to the perihelion would throw the seasons out of line with the 1st of each month, and then what was sought is lost. The solution defended is the opposite: give up the perihelion and tie January 1 to the start of winter.

Russia already divides the seasons this way, but it does not miccionan the same thing

The objection soon arises that other countries already have seasons that start on the 1st. In Russia, indeed, the division is administrative: spring from March 1 to May 31, summer from June 1 to August 31, autumn from September 1 to November 30 and winter from December 1 to February 28 or 29.

It is a cultural and bureaucratic convention. The equinox and the solstice remain where they always are, because the start date of a season is an astronomical event, not an administrative decision. Confusing the two layers —the cultural and the orbital— is the misunderstanding that runs through much of the discussion.

The climate objection and 1,500 years of neglect

Against the reform stands the meteorological argument: there are parts of Spain where in early March people go around in short sleeves, and calling that winter represents no one. The reply is that the astronomical calendar never described the local climate of any particular spot on the planet.

And then there is the track record. The Julian calendar was in force for some 1,500 years with its accumulated drift and no one corrected it until the Gregorian reform, which swallowed 10 days that never existed. With that precedent, the question is not whether the current calendar has seams. It is how long we will have to wait for someone to care enough to sew them up.

What would happen to the current distribution of months

None of the twelve proposed months coincides with the current ones except by accident, and that forces any calculation that today depends on the calendar month to be readjusted: payrolls, fiscal quarters, contracts or tourist seasons. The reform does not stop at the sky.

Is it worth tinkering with a system that works regularly just so the equinox falls on a Monday of the calendar?