Milankovitch cycles
Article
Milankovitch cycles are long-term variations in Earth's orbit and rotational orientation that alter the seasonal and geographical distribution of sunlight. The main components are eccentricity, obliquity, and precession.
Eccentricity describes changes in the shape of Earth's orbit, obliquity changes the tilt of Earth's axis, and precession changes the direction in which the axis points and the timing of the seasons relative to Earth's orbit.
These cycles do not greatly change the total annual sunlight received by Earth, but they alter summer and winter insolation at different latitudes. High-latitude summer sunlight is especially important for the growth or melting of large ice sheets.
Geological records show that orbital variations help pace glacial-interglacial cycles and other climate changes. The climate response is amplified by feedbacks involving ice, greenhouse gases, oceans, vegetation, and atmospheric circulation.
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- Source / publisher: Wikipedia
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: Wikipedia
- URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles