Prompt Cast
Understanding Milankovitch Cycles and their Impact on Earth's Climate
TLDR Milankovitch Cycles are long-term climate cycles that involve changes in the earth's tilt, orbit, and axis rotation. These cycles affect the amount of sunlight that falls on the northern hemisphere and can contribute to the formation of ice ages, but they are not responsible for recent climatic changes observed in the last several decades.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Milankovitch Cycles are long-term climate cycles that interact with each other and can affect the Earth's climate.
01:29
Milankovitch Cycles are long-term climate cycles that involve the earth's tilt, known as obliquity, which wobbles back and forth between 22.1 degrees and 24.5 degrees over a 41,000 year cycle.
02:53
The axial procession involves the earth's axis rotating in a circle over a period of 25,771.5 years, causing changes in the north star, while the orbital eccentricity cycle refers to the earth's slightly elliptical orbit around the sun that changes shape over time.
04:09
The eccentricity cycle of the earth's orbit around the sun takes about 100,000 years and is influenced by the gravitational pull of large planets, while the absidual procession and orbital inclination cycles also contribute to small changes in the earth's orbit over long periods of time.
05:30
The cycles of axial tilt, eccentricity, and procession affect the amount of sunlight that falls on the northern hemisphere, which is important because most of the land is located there and ice can form more easily, leading to ice ages.
06:45
The cycles of axial tilt, eccentricity, and procession can work together to cause an ice age, and the timing and extent of these cycles are different on Mars.
08:00
Milankovic cycles are not responsible for recent climatic changes measured over the last several decades, as their effects take thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years to change and cannot be noticed over shorter periods of time.
