Here's Why We Have Leap Years

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Every year has 365 days but every four years, February has 29 days instead of 28, making it a leap year

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But why do leap years exist and why every four years?

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A year is calculated as the amount of time it takes for the Earth to go around the Sun, which is 365 days


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But the actual duration is 365 days and six hours, which is rounded off to 365


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So, every four years the six extra hours from each year is summed up to make a day

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This is done so that our calendar year matches the solar year and seasons occur in same months as they always do


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If we don't have leap years, all the missing hours would add up and eventually, winter months would be hot and summer months would turn cold


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Leap years also take place on other planets in our solar system, besides the Earth


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Mars has more leap years than non-leap years. In a decade, there are six leap years on the Red Planet


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This happens because a year on Mars has 668.6 days compared to Earth's 365.2 days leading to more frequent leap years


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