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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
In ancient rocks, scientists see a climate cycle working across deep time
2018-05-09
[SpaceDaily] Scientists drilling deep into ancient rocks in the Arizona desert say they have documented a gradual shift in Earth's orbit that repeats regularly every 405,000 years, playing a role in natural climate swings. Astrophysicists have long hypothesized that the cycle exists based on calculations of celestial mechanics, but the authors of the new research have found the first verifiable physical evidence.

They showed that the cycle has been stable for hundreds of millions of years, from before the rise of dinosaurs, and is still active today. The research may have implications not only for climate studies, but our understanding of the evolution of life on Earth, and the evolution of the Solar System. It appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have for decades posited that Earth's orbit around the sun goes from nearly circular to about 5 percent elliptical, and back again every 405,000 years. The shift is believed to result from a complex interplay with the gravitational influences of Venus and Jupiter, along with other bodies in the Solar System as they all whirl around the Sun like a set of gyrating hula-hoops, sometimes closer to one another, sometimes further.
Posted by:746

#8  CO2 lags, doesn’t matter. But, he had to make obiesance.

“Kent points out that according to the Milankovitch theory, we should be at the peak of a 20,000-some year warming trend that ended the last glacial period; the Earth may eventually start cooling again over thousands of years, and possibly head for another glaciation.”

That’s the money quote. But, it’s not “may”, but “will”. And departures from the interglacial tend to be abrupt.
Posted by: KBK   2018-05-09 22:47  

#7  How will this affect Keith Richards?

Came up with the riff for Paint it Black last time; next go around bet he comes up with some badaszd shtuff.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2018-05-09 19:35  

#6  #5 So it's all Lex Luthor's doing?
Posted by: charger   2018-05-09 17:41  

#5  Given the superpowers available to Kent and Olsen, including time travel, this theory has a lot of credibility.
Posted by: Grunter   2018-05-09 08:39  

#4  this cycle doesn't match up with actual climate record as best we know it
Posted by: lord garth   2018-05-09 08:08  

#3  Scientists have for decades posited that Earth's orbit around the sun goes from nearly circular to about 5 percent elliptical,

5 percent of 93,000,000 million miles in a inverse square law universe, means you get a lot hotter and colder than anything man can do these days.
Posted by: P2kontheroad   2018-05-09 07:46  

#2  Next big thing:

Man-made Elliptical Heating

AKA MEH
Posted by: Grererong Bonaparte9840   2018-05-09 07:36  

#1  every 405,000 years, when orbital eccentricity is at its peak, seasonal differences caused by shorter cycles will become more intense; summers are hotter and winters colder; dry times drier, wet times wetter.

How will this affect Keith Richards?
Posted by: Frank G   2018-05-09 07:24  

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