Meteorological Autumn Begins: Nine Reasons to Welcome the Season

Autumn arrives with a welcome change for people who have spent the summer struggling through heat and restless nights. As the days shorten and temperatures fall, cooler air makes sleep, exercise and time outdoors more comfortable.

The German Weather Service describes a tropical night as one in which temperatures do not fall below 20 degrees Celsius. Such nights can place considerable strain on the body because it gets little chance to cool down. Sleep experts instead identify 16 to 18 degrees as the ideal temperature for nighttime rest.

The cooler air also improves conditions for outdoor exercise. Jogging, cycling and hiking through autumn leaves can feel easier than exercising in intense heat. An analysis of nearly 1.8 million marathon runs found that rising temperatures increasingly reduce running performance. The World Health Organization also says outdoor activity can improve mood and reduce stress.

Autumn offers relief from some summer pests, though not immediately. Wasp colonies break up between August and October, while mosquitoes become slower, fly less and retreat to sheltered places as temperatures decline. The season transforms the landscape as leaves turn yellow, red and orange, with low sunlight and morning mist adding to the scenery.

The kitchen changes too, with soups, stews, roasted vegetables and warm breakfasts bringing pumpkin, cabbage and root vegetables back into focus. Nutritional experts caution, however, that warm food is not automatically healthier than cold food. The ingredients matter most.

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Tropical nights are often very taxing for the body, because restful sleep is hardly possible without cooling at night.