3 ms·
A very interesting topic is how the details of Earth's orbit at any one time affect the change in global temperature. You can read more about it here: https://e
by arcadius 10y ago
A very interesting topic is how the details of Earth's orbit at any one time affect the change in global temperature. You can read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
- cossatot 10y agoMilankovitch cycles are thought to be a major factor, by everyone from climate scientists to oil companies (who have refined the history of these cycles exquisitely to help identify petroleum in particular rock units deposited during rising or falling sea levels). Another, much longer term factor (tens to hundreds of millions of years) has to do with the positions of the continents on earth, which affects how well ice can be stored. If there is considerable landmass near the poles and it's cold, then ice sheets can form, which increase the amount of reflected solar radiation (albedo) and decrease the amount of heat stored in the oceans (which have less volume due to ice sheet storage, and because sea level falls, the warm shallow seas that hold a lot of heat are much smaller). This can help cooling feedbacks. When the continents are arranged such that there is little polar landmass, these situations are reversed which leads to heating.
- JshWright 10y agoPBS Space Time did a great video on this topic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztninkgZ0ws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztninkgZ0ws