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The Milankovitch cycles consist of the Procession or Wobble of the axis (24,000 years); the Eccentricity (100,000 years); and the Tilt (41,000 years). The Procession determines if the earth is closest or farthest away from the sun in winter; the Eccentricity determines how great the solar insolation will be when the earth is close to the sun; and the Tilt determines how extreme seasons will be. The larger, the tilt the more extreme. All these cycles in concert provide forcing that has led to periods of glaciation in the past. Feedback cycles are important also in allowing winter-time snow to last through the Northern Hemisphere summer above 65 N latitude.

Bottom line - astronomical forcing was one of the primary drivers of creating past ice ages (which are large changes in climate).

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Q: How do milankovitch cycles affect climate?
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Why don't global warming experts reference the Milankovitch cycles?

Because Milankovitch cycles cannot explain climate variability over the time scale that we're interested in predicting climate. Milankovitch cycles can explain large variations in climate over very long time scales, scales of thousands of years. Milankovitch cycles do not explain variability in climate on the scales of hundreds or tens of years. Variability at smaller time scales is driven by other factors, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas concentrations.


How might the Milankovitch cycles affect the global climate?

Milankovitch cycles are orbital cycles affecting earth's insolation. There have been a long series of ice ages closely tied to these orbital cycles, and in fact earth should even now be ever so slightly and gradually cooling towards another ice age which should begin in about 50,000 years. Not particularly soon. The fact earth continues warming at a rapid rate suggests significant environmental impact from some outside source.


How do scientists think earths orbit relates to an ice age?

Variations in the Earth's orbit around the sun are called Milankovitch cycles. Scientist do not believe that Milankovitch cycles can start or end an ice age. Each cycle runs a different length and the variations in the cycles reinforce their effects or cancel them.


How do climate change affect biodiversity?

Changes in Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorous cycles can affect the health and variety of organisms that live in an ecosystem


What Is The Feature Of The Earths Movement That Takes About 26000 years?

Axial progression takes approximately 26,000 years. This is one of the Milankovitch cycles.


What feature of earths movement that takes about 26000 years is called?

Axial progression takes approximately 26,000 years. This is one of the Milankovitch cycles.


What is The feature of earths movement that takes about 26000 years is called?

Axial progression takes approximately 26,000 years. This is one of the Milankovitch cycles.


What can influence the climate of a continent?

Sun Cycles Ocean Cycles Cosmic Cycles


How does the earth's orbit affect global warming?

Not at all. Milankovitch Cycles are tied to episodic ice ages or glacial epochs. Currently earth should be entering a very gradual cooling period, instead of heating up, according to orbitally derived solar insolation.


What are the three parts of the Milankovitch Cycles?

A:The Milankovitch (or Milankovich) Theory describes the collective effects of changes in the earth's movements upon its climate. A cycle of precession lasts 26,000 years. At the same time, there is a cycle in which the earth's elliptical orbit rotates. The angle between Earth's rotational axis and the normal to the plane of its orbit oscillates between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees on a 41,000-year cycle. The combined effect of these and other cycles can produce a long-term cycle in the amount of warmth received from the sun. Milankovitch cycles operate over the very long term and have great value as a theory to explain ice ages and long-term changes in the climate, but are unlikely to have very much impact on the decade-century timescale. Over several centuries, it may be possible to observe the effect of these orbital parameters, however for the prediction of climate change in the twenty-first century, these changes are considered far less important than radiative forcing from greenhouse gases.


Does the length of the pendulum affect the number of cycles?

no. it affects the period of the cycles.


What does the milankovitch theory explain?

The Milankovitch theory was created by Milutin Milankovitch in the early 1900's while under house arrest. He calculated the temperature cycles based on the tilt of our planet, the gravitional pull of other planets and other natural issues that occur on roughly 26,000, 48,000 and 100,000 year cycles. His calculations coincided with the derived temperatures that were taken from the Lake Vostok glacial samples. One of the more interesting thngs that he theorized was that temperatures of the planet would crest when all the large planets were on one side of the sun and causing our orbit to be least circular. Under this theory, the planets natural temperatures should be cresting roughly about now. He developed these temperature cycles and theories without taking into account CO2 measurements.