Buffalo Business Daily

What climate changes does the earth undergoe due to shifts in its orbits?

what are the reasons for these changes and what are their time scales? PLease let me know.

Public Comments

1. There is a tilt to the axis of the earth relative to it's orbital plane - the earth 'nutates' about every 25000 years. The earth is also in a slightly elliptical orbit - it also shifts around such that sometimes the north pole is tilted towards the sun when the earth is at the closest it will get to the sun, and other times, it is tilting away when it is closest (milder winters in the latter, colder in the former) that is about 100,000 years to complete a cycle...i During the oscillation of the elliptical orbit and the nutation effects, the tilt can be fairly neutral at the closest point and furthest point - much more temperate weather - the poles each get fairly equal heating in those cases. There are probably some longer time scales, perhaps tied to the sun's orbit around the Milky Way galaxy - as we move in and out of the ecliptic plane of the galaxy, we may move through dust clouds and such that could also affect climate changes...