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Peter Clack (@PeterDClack) on X
The Milankovitch cycles have been Earth's heart pacemaker for millions of years.
Orbital mechanics have dominated throughout. Cyclical shifts from...
The Milankovitch cycles have been Earth's heart pacemaker for millions of years.
Orbital mechanics have dominated throughout. Cyclical shifts from icy glacial to warm interglacial periods - then back again - are not due to CO₂. They are a direct mechanical consequence of Earth’s positioning in space relative to the sun.
The three anomalies, known as the Milankovitch cycles, are 'eccentricity' (orbital shape), 'obliquity' (Earth's tilt), and 'precession' (a planetary wobble). These cycles dictate the distribution of solar insolation flux (sunlight), particularly at 65°N, which acts as the kill switch for ice sheets.
Earth is now in the Late Cenozoic Ice Age Glaciation; oddly unnoticed in a crisis about planetary warming. Global cooling is far more significant. An already cooling climate intensified 34 million years ago with the glaciation and geographical isolation of the Antarctic continent.
CO₂ is not the driver nor has it initiated the many warm interglacial cycles. Even the previous glacial period, known as the Eemian, was 2 degrees warming on average than today, yet CO₂ did not shift from a steady 295 ppm.
If the sheer tilt and wobble of the planet provided the energy to retreat miles of ice, then CO₂ was at best a faint secondary feedback in this process, nothing more.
Peter Clack
23.04.26
#peterclack #climatechange #climatescam