- Graphic shows variations in five orbital elements: Axial tilt or obliquity (ε).Eccentricity (e).Longitude of perihelion (sin(ϖ)).Precession index (e sin(ϖ))
- Precession index and obliquity control insolation at each latitude: Daily-average insolation at top of atmosphere on summer solstice () at 65° N
- Ocean sediment and Antarctic ice strata record ancient sea levels and temperatures: Benthic forams (57 widespread locations)Vostok ice core (Antarctica)
- Vertical gray line shows present (2000 CE)
Milankovitch cycles describe the collective effects of changes in the Earth's movements on its climate over thousands of years. The term was coined and named after the Serbian geophysicist and astronomer Milutin Milanković. In the 1920s, he hypothesized that variations in eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession combined to result in cyclical variations in the intra-annual and latitudinal distribution of solar radiation at the Earth's surface, and that this orbital forcing strongly influenced the Earth's climatic patterns.[1][2]
- ^ Kerr, Richard A. (14 July 1978). "Climate Control: How Large a Role for Orbital Variations?". Science. 201 (4351): 144–146. Bibcode:1978Sci...201..144K. doi:10.1126/science.201.4351.144. JSTOR 1746691. PMID 17801827. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ Buis, Alan (27 February 2020). "Why Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles Can't Explain Earth's Current Warming". NASA. Retrieved 29 July 2022.