Tying celestial mechanics to Earth’s ice ages – IOTW Report

Tying celestial mechanics to Earth’s ice ages

WattsUpWithThat-

From Physics Today

Gradual falls and sharp rises in temperature for millions of years have profoundly affected living conditions on the planet and, consequently, our own evolution.

Mark Maslin is a professor of Earth system science in the department of geography at University College London.

Physics Today 73, 5, 48 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4474

Milutin Milanković, a brilliant Serbian mathematician and climatologist, postulated in 1941 that variations in Earth’s orbit could push the planet’s climate in or out of an ice age.1 Vital to that idea is the amount of insolation—incoming solar radiation—at 65° N, a bit south of the Arctic Circle. At that latitude, insolation can vary seasonally by 25%. Milanković argued that reductions in summer insolation allow some winter ice to survive. Each year for thousands of years, ice accumulates around 65° N and eventually forms sheets large enough to trigger an ice age. more here

10 Comments on Tying celestial mechanics to Earth’s ice ages

  1. While we’re all a captive audience now, PBS has been airing NOVA shows trying to scare everyone into believing climate change is real. I like the dinosaur and space stuff but as soon as they start with climate change I change the channel. But how many parents are planting their kids in front of the TV thinking this is “education?”

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  2. Missing a huge cyclical event. All focus here is on Earth’s orbit. There’s another orbit in play. The Sun orbits the center of mass of our galaxy. Our galaxy is a spiral type with “arms” that are higher in density than the interstitial regions. When our Sun traverses an arm, we get a higher influx of cosmic rays. These Compton scatter thru the upper atmosphere and nucleate cloud formation. More clouds reflect more sunlight.

    That’s the bit they always want to avoid talking about. Clouds formation, and the forcing mechanisms that control cloud formation are in the driver’s seat. Green house gasses, while significant, are secondary to clouds.

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  3. Right on Anon. I tried watching Blue Planet or something like it on Netflix and every other paragraph was about how bad man is……I just had to stop watching it.

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  4. The planet (Mother Nature if you prefer) is well able to take care of itself (Herself?). If it wants us dead, we’re dead. STFU and enjoy the ride.

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  5. Next time you’re in Glacier Natl Park and the park ranger starts describing how only 30 glaciers are left and how manmade global warming is going to completely destroy them, ask them this: when were all these cirques, U-shaped valleys, and aretes formed? Watch for the deer in the headlight look as Henry Ford wasn’t making the Model Ts 60,000 years ago. In fact, I’m pretty sure there weren’t even coal plants back then. Then ask them how the glaciers could go away without us making it happen.

    So, be happy you live in a time when you can see the remaining glaciers…oh wait, that’s right, they’re closed because being within 2 miles in the backcountry violates the ass-kissing rule the feds want.

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  6. “Without human interference, ice sheets should have been growing now, and the next glaciation would have happened sometime during the next 1000 years.”

    To Earthlings in the year 3020: You’re welcome.

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