Milankovitch cycles

Milankovitch’s goal was to calculate the temperature at different points on the surface of Earth at different times of year from axioms, or first principles. That was a formidable problem. However, his initial calculations, published in Théorie mathématique des phénomènes thermiques produits par…

…of Earth’s surface owing to Milankovitch variations (changes in the seasons resulting from periodic adjustments of Earth’s orbit around the Sun)—affected atmospheric circulation. The diverse changes of the past 10,000 years across the globe are difficult to summarize in capsule, but some general highlights and large-scale patterns are worthy of…

…of glaciation was driven by cyclic changes in eccentricity as well as two other orbital parameters: precession (a change in the directional focus of Earth’s axis of rotation) and axial tilt (a change in the inclination of Earth’s axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun).…