Milankovitch cycles
Earth's orbital oscillations
Milankovitch cycles are periodic variations in Earth's orbit and axial tilt that affect climate over tens of thousands of years.
Three components—eccentricity (orbital shape), obliquity (axial tilt), and precession (axial wobble)—combine to alter how much solar radiation reaches different latitudes at different seasons.
These cycles help explain the timing of ice ages and other long-term climate shifts.
Solar radiation received
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
- ice agesExtended global cooling epochs
- paleoclimatePast geological climate conditions
solar radiation · ice sheet · albedo · feedback loops · temperature fluctuations · sea level change · Pleistocene · Holocene
Unconventional behavior or nature
- precessionRotating axis gradually reorients
- obliquityAngular deviation from perpendicular
- axial tiltRotational axis deviation
- perihelionOrbital point nearest sun
aphelion · apsidal precession · elliptical orbit · solar system · gravitational pull · planetary alignment · wobble
Study of prehistoric climates
- ice coresCylindrical glacier samples
- oxygen isotopesNuclear variants of element eight
- dating methodsWays to determine age
- spectral analysisWavelength-based substance identification
insolation
Solar radiation received
- glaciationIce sheet spreading process
- interglacialEpoch between major freezes
- ice agesExtended global cooling epochs
paleoclimate · solar radiation · ice sheet · albedo · feedback loops · temperature fluctuations · sea level change · Pleistocene · Holocene · Quaternary
eccentricity
Unconventional behavior or nature
- precessionRotating axis gradually reorients
- obliquityAngular deviation from perpendicular
- axial tiltRotational axis deviation
perihelion · aphelion · apsidal precession · elliptical orbit · solar system · gravitational pull · planetary alignment · wobble
paleoclimatology
Study of prehistoric climates
- ice coresCylindrical glacier samples
- oxygen isotopesNuclear variants of element eight
- dating methodsWays to determine age
- orbital cycleseccentricity, obliquity, precession, apsidal precession, elliptical orbit
- paleoclimatepaleoclimate, ice age, ice ages, ice cores, ice core
- climateclimate change, climate, weather, global warming, temperature
- geologybedrock, fault lines, faults, rock, basalt
- cyclescircle of life, period, rhythms, oscillations, full circle
- Ice Agesice age, glacial, glaciation, glacial period, ice sheet
Milankovitch cyclesindustrial emissions
Pollutants released by manufacturing
asteroid impacts · deforestation · greenhouse effect · carbon dioxide emissions · solar flares
Milankovitch cyclesweather
Atmospheric state outdoors
Heinrich events · Younger Dryas · seasonal variation · El Niño · La Niña
Milankovitch cyclescatastrophic events
Severely damaging large-scale occurrences
cycle, bicycle, recycle, tricycle, motorcycle, cycling, cycles, cyclic, cyclical