Throughout Earth’s climate history, it has fluctuated between two primary states: greenhouse and icehouse Earth. These climate states last for millions of years and should not be confused with smaller glacial and interglacial periods, which occur as alternating phases within an ice ages cycle. The cause of today’s climate change is different from the planetary forces that set off the breaks between ice ages. In past cycles, changes to the Earth’s atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, particularly CO2, play a large role in the development of cold conditions during ice ages and warm conditions during interglacial periods.
Melting icebergs in Antarctica could be the trigger that leads to a new ice age on Earth, according to scientists from Cardiff University. The most recent Ice Age began about two million years ago and peaked about 20,000 years ago. For at least the last 800,000 years, atmospheric CO2 concentrations oscillated between about 180 parts per million during ice ages and about 280 p.p.m. during warmer periods, as carbon moved.
The main factors involved in changes of the paleoclimate are believed to be the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Low levels of greenhouse gases can cause the Earth to cool, leading to an ice age. Ocean currents can also play a role in triggering an ice age by disrupting ocean currents, specifically the Gulf Stream. Some theories suggest that global warming could potentially trigger an ice age by disrupting ocean currents, specifically the Gulf Stream, leading to decreased atmospheric carbon dioxide content during glacial phases.
📹 What Is the Greenhouse Effect?
Earth is a comfortable place for living things. It’s just the right temperatures for plants and animals – including humans – to thrive.
Does the greenhouse effect make the Earth colder or warmer?
Greenhouse gases cause Earth’s surface to warm, but aerosol pollution in the atmosphere can counteract this effect. Fossil fuel combustion produces sulphate aerosols that reduce sunlight, cooling the Earth. These aerosols also negatively impact human health and other climate systems, such as rainfall. Understanding the difference between weather and climate is crucial for understanding the causes of climate change and its impacts.
How cold would Earth be without any greenhouse effect?
Greenhouse gases play a crucial role in maintaining Earth’s suitable temperature for life. The natural greenhouse effect occurs when most of the infrared radiation from the Sun is absorbed and re-emitted by greenhouse gas molecules and clouds, causing the Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere to warm. Greenhouse gases absorb infrared radiation in the form of heat, which is circulated in the atmosphere and eventually lost to space. They also increase the rate at which the atmosphere can absorb short-wave radiation from the Sun, but this has a weaker effect on global temperatures.
Can global warming cause cold weather?
Global warming, caused by increased greenhouse gas concentrations, is causing a rise in the frequency and intensity of cold spells. This warming has already led to more intense heatwaves, longer drought periods, extended floods, and wildfires. Scientists are also increasingly focusing on the potential increase in the intensity and frequency of winter cold snaps in the northern hemisphere. Weather phenomena like the Beast from the East in 2018 and the Arctic air spell reaching Texas in 2021 are becoming more common.
Will there be a mini ice age in 2030?
The published opinion of an ice age in the next 15 years is false due to the lack of reports and confirmation of such an event. Climate and space science data do not confirm such a situation, and there is a low probability that it will occur due to accidental changes. Some parts of the world oppose the concept of global warming, arguing that even if global temperatures rise, environmental temperatures may not rise too much.
What caused ice age 12000 years ago?
Scientists are struggling to explain the extensive ice sheets covering much of Scandinavia and northern Europe, where temperatures are much more mild. The North Atlantic Current, which brings warm water to the coasts of northwestern Europe, should have remained largely ice-free due to the North Atlantic Current. Despite the two regions being located along similar latitudes, the Scandinavian summer temperatures are well above freezing, while the temperatures in large parts of the Canadian Arctic remain below freezing through the summer.
This discrepancy has led to climate models struggling to account for the extensive glaciers that advanced in northern Europe and marked the beginning of the last ice age. The problem is not known where the ice sheets in Scandinavia came from or what caused them to expand in such a short amount of time.
How does global warming cause ice to melt?
The warming climate has significantly impacted ice sheets, leading to a loss of ice due to warmer air and ocean waters. This is particularly evident in low-elevation regions near the ice sheets’ edges, where ice melts more quickly and flows to the sea. Warmer ocean waters also melt the ice sheet’s edge and base, accelerating calving. Additionally, warmer ocean waters weaken floating ice shelves, particularly in Antarctica, which hold back land ice flow.
While some losses are offset by warmer air, both ice sheets are experiencing a net loss of ice. As ice sheets shrink, the water they add to the ocean raises sea levels worldwide. Melting Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets accounted for about one-third of observed global sea level rise between 2006 and 2015. Ice sheets are important indicators not only because of their sensitivity to climate changes but also for their role in global sea level rise.
Satellite instruments are the most effective way to measure changes in ice sheets, using techniques such as altimetry, changes in ice weight, and the “input-output” method. These methods help scientists understand the sensitivity of ice sheets to climate changes and their role in global sea level rise.
Will we trigger ice age?
The Sun’s radiation levels are not expected to significantly impact global warming from long-lived greenhouse gases, even if they decrease. Even a prolonged Grand Solar Minimum would only offset a few years of warming caused by human activities. The warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions from human burning of fossil fuels is 6 times greater than the possible decades-long cooling from a prolonged Grand Solar Minimum. Even if a Grand Solar Minimum lasts for a century, global temperatures would still continue to warm, as the Sun is not the only factor affecting global temperatures on Earth.
Does the greenhouse effect keep the Earth cold?
The greenhouse effect is a process where heat is trapped near Earth’s surface by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor. These gases help maintain a warmer temperature than it would otherwise have. Carbon dioxide is crucial for maintaining Earth’s atmosphere stability, as it would collapse the terrestrial greenhouse effect and drop Earth’s surface temperature by approximately 33°C (59°F).
Earth is often called the ‘Goldilocks’ planet due to its natural greenhouse effect, which maintains an average temperature of 15°C (59°F). However, human activities, primarily from burning fossil fuels, have disrupted Earth’s energy balance, leading to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean. The level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has been rising consistently for decades, trapping extra heat near the planet’s surface and causing temperatures to rise.
How does the greenhouse effect affect the Arctic?
The Arctic is experiencing a three-fold increase in temperatures, causing melting of snow and ice, which impacts local ecosystems and the global climate system. This is contributing to rising sea levels and is likely to trigger extreme temperature events beyond the Arctic. The effects of this climate change are felt across high latitudes and beyond, with global environmental, economic, and social implications. The Arctic Council and its Working Groups are collaborating with Observer states, organizations, and other stakeholders to address the implications of a changing Arctic climate.
The Council’s Working Groups commit to working together, acknowledging the scope of the changes and their possible effects on livelihoods, societies, the Arctic environment, and economy. The Arctic Council serves as a knowledge broker and global advocate for Arctic topics through its growing body of reports and assessments.
Does the greenhouse effect cause melting of polar ice?
The phenomenon of global warming, which is caused by an increased greenhouse effect, results in the heating of the Earth and the subsequent occurrence of climate change. This includes the melting of polar ice caps. The transformation of water into a different state is of paramount importance in the context of the melting of polar ice caps. BYJU provides complimentary educational resources, including free classes and a scholarship for BNAT examinations, thereby facilitating access to knowledge for those seeking to expand their academic horizons.
Can greenhouse gases cause an ice age?
The prevailing theory regarding the origin of ice ages posits that they are the result of a cascade of positive feedback loops initiated by periodic alterations in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. These feedback loops encompass the dispersal of ice and the release of greenhouse gases, which, in a feedback loop, serve to warm the planet when the orbital cycle resumes.
📹 How Ice Ages Happen: The Milankovitch Cycles
The Milankovitch Cycles are changes in the Earth’s orbit and rotation that cause the Earth’s climate to change over hundreds of …
Very interesting, thank you. I saw a documentary where someone was studying ice ages – on (I think) Barbados! Every time the sea level dropped, a new layer of coral was exposed and died, and a new coral reef began to grow further down. The age of each coral terrace could be dated, and they matched the Milankovich Cycle very closely
This is one of the best narrators. It’s very concise in answering this question. It would be good with examples of the three cycles and how they affected human evolution and spread over Earth. We can also factor in some irregular things like solar outbursts and meteors – that may have interfered with the cycles.
It’s not so much a question of the heat capacity but primarily a question of the mechanism of heat transport. On solid ground it is heat conduction where as on water you have convection. Convection can be magnitudes more efficient transporting heat from deeper layers to the surface thus preventing the formation of ice. Else from this: Great article and very well explained !
Reading through the comments, I saw a couple of salient points that add to this effect that I also want to reiterate. The effects of the solar maximum and minimums, grand solar minimum in particular, and the effects of volcanic eruptions, especially those like the Toba eruption in Indonesia 74k years ago, and eruptions like Yellowstone, would have a major impact, but even eruptions like Mt.St . Helens and Mt Pinatubo had recently recorded effects on a global scale. Krakatoa was another major one that produced “the year without a summer”. Grand Solar Minimum like the Maunder Minimum that produced the “Little Ice Age” between the 17th and 18th centuries should be considered too. This is an excellent explanation of yet another major factor in the natural, uncontrollable cycle of climate. Great article!
The Milankovitch Cycles started about 3 million years ago, and are still happening. We have been in an ice age for 15 to 20 million years, since the re-glaciation of Antarctica. People tend to call Glaciation Periods “Ice Ages”, but they are just fluctuations within the current ice age. We currently have ice caps on both poles, definitely in an ice age, right now. We are at the top, or warm part of a Milankovitch cycle, called an Inter-glacial Period. It gets warm for 10,000 – 20,000 yrs or so, and then the cycle gets cold for 100,000 yrs. The cycles used to be much shorter and less extreme in temperature change, and had 40,000 yrs of cold. Now it is about a 100,000 yrs of cold.
Very good article. Worth keeping in mind that the atmosphere can trap more heat as a function of IR-active gas volume. Gases absorbing infrared light re-emit them in all directions, causing a loop (trapping them partly), instead of the radiation being reflected back into space. This doesn’t directly have to do with ice ages, but thought it’d be a good idea to mention it as some may have come to the wrong conclusions in the comment section.
The peak of the current inter-glacial warm period was 6,000 years ago.We should still be slowly cooling to another distant glaciation but, industrial activity has increased CO2 by 40% and rising in a very brief period and it has radically changed our global temperature trajectory upwards in a wholly unnatural way. This is so extreme and so rapid many species are unable to adapt and whole ecosystems are being disrupted. Agriculture is especially vulnerable to rapid changes and extreme weather events such as drought and flood.
Each glacial period is subject to positive feedback which makes it more severe, and negative feedback which mitigates and (in all cases so far) eventually ends it. The causes of ice ages are not fully understood for either the large-scale ice age periods or the smaller ebb and flow of glacial–interglacial periods within an ice age. The consensus is that several factors are important: atmospheric composition, such as the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane (the specific levels of the previously mentioned gases are now able to be seen with the new ice core samples from the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) Dome C in Antarctica over the past 800,000 years); changes in Earth’s orbit around the Sun known as Milankovitch cycles; the motion of tectonic plates resulting in changes in the relative location and amount of continental and oceanic crust on Earth’s surface, which affect wind and ocean currents; variations in solar output; the orbital dynamics of the Earth–Moon system; the impact of relatively large meteorites and volcanism including eruptions of supervolcanoes.(citation needed) Some of these factors influence each other. For example, changes in Earth’s atmospheric composition (especially the concentrations of greenhouse gases) may alter the climate, while climate change itself can change the atmospheric composition (for example by changing the rate at which weathering removes CO2). Maureen Raymo, William Ruddiman and others propose that the Tibetan and Colorado Plateaus are immense CO2 “scrubbers” with a capacity to remove enough CO2 from the global atmosphere to be a significant causal factor of the 40 million year Cenozoic Cooling trend.
Such a clear explanation with great graphics- wonderful – instant subscribe! As a young geology student in the 90s I was captivated by a talk I heard by Dr Brad Pillans about Milankovitch Cycles and sea level change and its effect on a tectonically uplifting landscape – creating so called marine terraces. Good examples of these are found in Whanganui and northern Taranaki provinces, as well as other areas in NZ. Yes, Ice Ages and warm periods are natural, but they happen on timescales significantly longer than human civilisation to date. For the first time ever, the Anthropocene is upon us.
On top of that, the Earth’s oceans and ocean currents have a significant effect on temperatures in the temperate zones. At one time, North America and Europe’s climate was much, much colder than today because North and South America were not connected by land. Instead of the Atlantic Ocean’s warm water current traveling up South America, into the Caribbean and up towards the North Atlantic, the current travelled around the northern part of South America into the Pacific Ocean. Without these warm water currents, large parts of both North America and Europe were frozen over with ice year round.
You correctly say that the extreme climate changes have been happening for 100s of thousand of years. But the Earth is billions of years old. It seems that continental drift has greatly increased the effect of the Milankovic cycles over the past million or so years by closing off the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean, cutting off warm currents from the Pacific, and allowing the Arctic Ocean to almost totally freeze over in winter. This ice mostly stays for well past June when solar radiation is strongest in the Arctic, thus delaying land temperatures from rising and melting winter snow cover. It is currently quite an unstable system, and the modest Milankovitch effects can have major consequences.
I believe we’re in no position to alter any significant parameter of Earth’s climate, at least on a global scale. Locally, yes. Big metropolitan areas are warmer than the countryside because of heat bubbles. But the planet has its own mechanisms which we aren’t even close to understand. We must change the way we use energy and treat the environment, not because of climate change but to give room for nature to thrive and not pollut it. The climate will follow its path with or without humans. In that sense we’re irrelevant.
So far this is the easiest article to follow when trying to understand precessions and whatnot. I came from some 26000 thing and ages of zodiacs, was absolutely confused with the whole advanced civilization conspiracy, and finally I found this which makes everything easier for the simple person to understand. Why I got dragged into the whole zodiac end-of-the-world conspiracies though? I don’t understand.
I just learned so much in this 6 minute article, it was hard for me to make sense of it all . Kind of makes my brain hurt as well just thinking about how the slightest bit of things can cause such a big impact and just thinking about how fragile earth and life is and how lucky we are to be alive . Idk just crazy to think about. And god bless scientists and smart people who figured a lot of this stuff out 😂
One thing you didn’t mention is atmospheric conditions due to volcanic eruptions, such as this years Tonga eruption resulted in record floods never seen before. 3 record flooding events in 8 months. And that’s just in Australia alone. This has an impact on temperature, which in turn affects when the next ice age will come.
This is one of the greatest articles I’ve watched in my adult life. Thank you. One thing that I’m curious about, however, is that how is it that in January, earth receives %6 more light because it’s closer to the sun, and in July it’s furthest and receives less light, but it’s July is when it gets very hot in Summer? It’s July now and I live in Texas, and it’s very hot lol.
The article is done very good when we only look at the educational aspect. But it also raises questions to the viewer, that are not answered. The insolation curve is oszillatory. This would suggest that warming and cooling are symmetric. But they are not! Cooling occurs 85000 years wheras warming occurs only 15000 years. Also, the albedo feedback does not explain this because it works both ways. More ice-more cooling-more ice, Less ice-more warming-less ice. Unless this contradiction is not clarified, the animations are nice but the true relationships are not understood.
You are confusing Ice Ages and Glaciations. Milankovitch cycles trigger glacial and Interglacials periods within ice ages not Ice ages themselves. They created the trigger for increasing and decreasing Ice cover through the Quaternary Ice Age, but not the ice age itself. They were not the driver for some of the historic Ice Ages – e.g. the Cryogenian when the Sun was weaker than today and there weren’t enough green house gases in the atmosphere allowing most of earth to be covered in Ice.
Very interesting I can’t remember exactly where I read this information but the Earth, compared to when the Roman Empire was still around, is cooler than it was at the time the Romans were around. I think many journals found by archeologists describe blistering hot Summers. Like I said I can’t remember exactly where I read this information but I clearly remember reading about it.
Many many factors have an effect on the earth’s climate. The sun being on of them, El-Nina and El-Nino another, which by themselves go through cycles and changes that have the biggest impact on our climate overall. When you study the ice cores like some scientists have you can see the severity of the Earth’s climate throughout time making life on earth very difficult and challenging. These changes have also been correlated with historical periods of growth and prosperity along with death and starvation. Growth and development have always been linked with periods of warmer climates and death with the opposites. In the 70s -90s they were saying we were headed back into a mini ice age because of the data. This was terrifying because it means loss of crops and as a result famine, desease and mass population drop etc. Now today they have monetized the climate because it is always going to be changing and because their obscuring the subjective understanding of the environment and what impact it is going to have. Sea levels havent risen, so the science behind these ideas is complete falacy and bs. The earth is in itself a self regulating mechanism that seems to find ways to adapt to what goes on with it. We should be wise and look after our home but the corporation’s and huge enterprises that are sucking it dry for the sake of profit and prosituting it to the world is what the problem is not people in itself. If you want to solve this problem of mindless destructive tendencies look at the industrialists and pushers of a capitalistic cesspool as the problem.
Climatologist: Someone who claims he can predict the weather 10 years from now but can not even predict it 10 days from now. Climatology is a generalist discipline in a world of specialization. Even a basic understanding requires integration of almost everything from cosmic radiation from space, effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, earth’s axis tilt and orbital variations, ocean currents, jet streams, cloud cover and atmospheric solar reflectivity, especially volcanic eruptions and volcanic heat on the bottom of the ocean and everything in between and even tectonic causes such as continental drift. Climate change is controlled primarily by cyclical eccentricities in Earth’s rotation and orbit, as well as variations in the sun’s energy output. Literally almost 100% of the Earth’s energy and weather is a result of: 1) directly from the variability of the Sun’s solar intensity or 2) indirectly from interference of solar intensity caused by Earth’s natural events. Why do climate prediction models leave out this prime factor: the Earth and Sun relationship? Climate change associated with solar intensity from astronomical causes: 11 year and 206 year cycles: Cycles of solar variability ( sunspot activity ) and Milankovitch cycles 21,000 year cycle: Earth’s combined tilt and elliptical orbit around the Sun ( precession of the equinoxes ) 41,000 year cycle: Cycle of the +/- 1.5° wobble in Earth’s orbit ( tilt ) 100,000 year cycle: Variations in the shape of Earth’s elliptical orbit ( cycle of eccentricity) The other largest climate and weather driving factor is Earth’s natural volcanic activity.
The top-of-atmosphere (TOA) forcings/feedbacks of the most recent de-glaciation were: 0.5 +- 1 w/m**2 8% Milankovitch cycles orbital eccentricity, axial tilt & precession of the equinoxes changes forcing (what pulled the trigger that started it) 3.5 +- 1 w/m**2 53% ice sheets & vegetation changes albedo-change feedback 1.8 +- 0.3 w/m**2 27% CO2 change feedback 0.4 +- 0.1 w/m**2 6% CH4 change feedback 0.4 +- 0.1 w/m**2 6% N2O change feedback ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 6.6 +- 1.5 w/m**2 total
You forgot to mention that all that ice on the top of the world makes it tip over even more because it’s too top heavy. I had a girlfriend who suddenly got huge boobs in 7th grade and she had a terrible time staying in an upright position for several years until she got married. Fortunately she married an upright man.
Whenever the global atmospheric CO2 level rises above 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), it overwhelms the impact of Milankovitch cycles, obviating any possibility of an ice age. Now, we’re at ~415 ppmv (plus rising methane as well). So, you can ignore Ice Age forecasts until CO2 levels fall drastically again. The last time CO2 rose this much, it took ~20,000 years to fall again.
The proportions of the things that warmed Earth by 7.45 degrees from the last glaciation period (colloquial “ice age”), warming from 17,300 to 6,000 years ago is: 0.5 +- 1 w/m**2 8% Milankovitch cycles orbital eccentricity, axial tilt & precession of the equinoxes changes forcing (what pulled the trigger that started it) 3.5 +- 1 w/m**2 53% ice sheets & vegetation changes albedo-change feedback 1.8 +- 0.3 w/m**2 27% CO2 change feedback 0.4 +- 0.1 w/m**2 6% CH4 change feedback 0.4 +- 0.1 w/m**2 6% N2O change feedback ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 6.6 +- 1.5 w/m**2 total Cloud change feedback caused by the warming, and only known with large uncertainty, will have made a significant extra warming contribution.
I often tell people, that we are nearer to the sun, in winter (northern hemisphere). We are always in an ice age, the current one began at least 2.5m years ago, Pleistocene it’s known as, we are technically still in it, as the polar ice is retreating. There will be no interval as we begin the next ice age, so yes we’re always in an ice age.
Interesting. This gives you a much better idea of the elements that influence our climate. This makes complete sense. What passes for “climate” science today leaves me skeptical. but cyclical changes due to the three major moderators mentioned above, puts the changes in context. Man made madness that passes as science today does not make sense unless you have a political agenda to fulfill and press on all others.
There is an even bigger influence on our climate and that is cyclical changes in the suns output, which is observed visually by sun spot activity or, more recently, measured by magnetic field strength meters. We are all familiar with the suns 8 x 11 year cycle but scientist Valentina Zharkova has demonstrated that acrually the sun has two magnetic fields, which interact with each other, sometimes cancelling one another and sometimes building on each other. She has mathematically modeled this going back several hundreds of years and conclusively demonstrated that this is the primary driver of climactic variations.
6:18 1- This chart is missing the temperature numbers. That is absolutely critical information that determines whether or not the temperature is much of a factor or if they are very relevant. If the temperature shift is 1-10 degrees then it is meaningless. If the temperature shift is 1-100 degrees then it is very meaningful as it relates to known warming cycles and ice ages. Why is this information not on that chart? 2- At first glance, the chart looks as if there is a causal relationship, however, there is a major problem. Only peaks 1 and peak 6 (left to right) actually match. That’s only 2 out of 11 that are represented on this chart. Peaks 2, 3, 7,8,9, and 10 are only a 50% match. That is a terrible correlation ratio. More importantly, peaks 4 and 5 show zero correlation. That’s 2 out of 11 showing zero correlation and 2 out of 11 showing direct correlation. 3- Due to points 1 and 2 listed above, this chart shows weak evidence for a causal connection between Milankovitch Cycles and ice ages/warming cycles.
just a small observation… the sunlight reflection theory applies to Earth as we know it, with most of the landmass (and ice) in the northern hemisphere, but continents have not always been in this position due to the tectonic plates movement, so things must have been different 200+ million years ago
The only disappointing thing about the article is it doesn’t talk about where we are in the current Milenkovitch cycle. That would help explain whether we need global warming to prevent another Ice Age or how much of the change is due to the procession and the cycle. That may of course not be the kind of question you’re allowed to ask anymore
Only a few people know that the milankovitch cycles are written in into the great pyramid of giza using mathematics and geometry, the use of constellations was also used in the great pyramid, stars like aldebaran, rigel, antares, altair are being used, the great pyramid of giza is a huge astronomical clock, that does a circle using earth’s precession every 26000 years. But why? what does happen when the clock does a full circle? no one knows.
So this article basically explains global warming as a natural, cyclic effect over millions of years based on a changing orbital path and a shifting Axial Tilt. It forgets to add that the Sun has an intensity cycle too of around 12 years where is becomes more active ~ generating more energy (heat) ~ then lessens. The Sun is also slowly getting larger as it burns its fuel, shifting the Circumstellar Habitable Zone (Goldilocks Zone) and bringing the earth ever closer to the inside edge. All these factors are so out of our control and so incredibly powerful. Maybe IJA could do a article on the CHZ and Sun activity cycle?
Interesting article. I don’t dispute the science you describe, but if these changes combined truly take place over very long cycles – and they seem to be on the order of 100’s of thousands of years, based on this article – I don’t think the magnitude of the changes we’ve been seeing over the last 50 years or so would be noticeable over the course of anyone’s lifetime. So perhaps it’s time to add a 4th element to Milankovitch’s three: human factors.
So how does the upcoming moon wobble affect this? Around 2030 the peak of the event will be going on where the moon will be pulled away by something else for a decade and in turn will lose a portion of its gravitational pull on the earth and its tides. Will this also affect the tilt of the planet? Will that end up bringing us even more sunlight in the summers bringing massive flooding world wide?
Really strange grammar to say three things affect something in different ways and then refer to them all as “one”. Thought it was an edit error. It would be far more correct to say something like “one is this, another is that, and a third factor is something else” rather than “one is this, one is that and one is something else”
An Ice Age comes about in a completely different way than has been told so far. An Ice Age is the result of the peak of five natural disasters that occur one after the other in a cycle. That cycle is mentioned in several old books. The cause is the strong gravitational pull that a rapidly passing planet exerts on our Earth. That planet 9 circles the sun in an eccentric orbit. As it approaches the sun it has great speed and after the passage the speed decreases again and planet 9 disappears from our view for a few thousand years. This great attraction pulls the seawater up even “above the highest mountains”. That water freezes at that height. As the planet moves away, its gravitational pull decreases and the frozen water falls back onto Earth “in blocks as big as mountains.” As a result, the northernmost part of our planet will be covered with ice in no more than two days. The sea level is now much lower and after some time ice starts to melt. That goes on for a long time. The previous Ice layer was formed in the year 10,844 BCE and the next one comes in the year 14,356 CE. Before and after the Ice Age, there are four natural disasters that cause a great flood that kills many animals and people. All crops and harvests are also destroyed. This is Ancient knowledge that is available to anyone who seeks it. But that knowledge has been forgotten, ignored or denied by all scientists. We explain much more about planet 9, the recurring flood cycle and its timeline, the rebirth of civilizations and ancient advanced technology in the e-book: “Planet 9 = Nibiru”.
It’s not just astronomical! We have ice ages cycles since the start of the Pleistocene. However Milankovitch cycles have always been there and they did not create ice ages during the Pliocene and before. The important difference is the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Now, we will perhaps not have the next ice age because of man made warming of the climate. Check the NOAA pdf on glaciation cycles.
One quibble, not that you’ll actually see this comment since over 9300 people have responded, but at the end of your article you said that the Milankovitch Cycles have been affecting climate here on earth for hundreds of thousands of years… I’m sorry, but they’ve been affecting climate for billions of years. Otherwise, a great article
Milankovitch cycles are clearly not the cause of ice ages. You don’t need a trigger. The system is, during interglacials, there is faster carbon removal from the atmosphere because the permafrost sink is enabled at these ‘upper limit’ temperatures. So that eventually lowers atmospheric carbon enough to get it to ice age levels. In the much longer glacial period, carbon builds up slowly again, because only the weathering processes are active in removing carbon, so volcanic co2 builds up again.
Technically, we are in an Ice Age right now and have been for 3 million years. We have permanent ice. This rarely happens in earth’s history. Two things can cause an Ice Age, land mass from pole to pole and/or large land mass at either pole. We have both. What most people call an ice age is actually a glacial period in that Ice Age.
The Sun’s output is now known to be vary in both long and short cycles, as well as the Earth’s magnetic field strength is also know to be variable. The magnetic field protect Earth from solar and galactic radiation, or heat. As Earth’s magnetic field weakens, which is currently happening, Earth is exposed to a greater amount of radiation and warms. The last ice age ended abruptly not over hundreds of thousands of years, but in hundreds of years.
So here’s an interesting fact for you: The Earth receives, in addition to its intermittent solar absorption, another 30kVDC @ 650 kA. (consistently, but variable in power and voltage, net positive, ref: THEMIS satellite data). This energy, as so far is determined, flows into the poles via (depending on whom you associate with) “magnetic funnels connecting the Sun to the Earth”, or via Birkeland currents, if you have taken a course in Electronics. These currents then flow out from the Earth back along the Birkeland currents, or also out the equator in various ring currents. All of this electrical flow taking place through highly resistive rock MUST therefore generate enormous amounts of heat due to the semi-conductive materials these currents flow through in the lithosphere of our planet. I do not have the math for how much heat exactly, because I do not have data on the actual R value of the various rock strata in telluric current zones. REGARDLESS, his non-zero sum is NEVER taken into consideration by any climatological models of which I am aware. NONE. I shouldn’t have to even SAY this, but: You cannot have a fully representative or functional model if you selectively ignore data that would otherwise alter the results of the model if it were considered! Seriously. It doesn’t seem to be about the Science anymore, does it. It just seems to be about publishing whatever you can shove through the gate, and get famous and paid for. That’s what it looks like to me. 🤨 Time will tell.
There are more reasons than the Milankovitch Cycles. When more Ice melts away it turns into water. The earth spins at 1040 miles per hour at the equator. When the water is a liquid, because of the spin it moves towards the equator. This transfers trillions of tons of ice to water in the oceans at the equator. That presses on the tectonics plates in a different way. The result is an increase in earthquakes and volcanoes. The volcanoes tend to cool the earth down. They put partials in the upper atmosphere and block out the sun light. Note that volcanic eruptions have been on the rise right now. If the Yellow Stone super Volcano has a major eruption the world will have no growing season for about 100 years and most of the USA will be wiped out. The earth will have another ice age. We don’t know if Yellow Stone will erupt any time soon, but the calderas have risen many feet and is bulging. We also know other super volcanos and regular volcanos are increasing in activity around the world. We have already engaged the earth’s air conditioning and we will be cooling down sometime soon! It is too late to stop it and we might want to dig up as much coal as we can so we can power grow lights for indoor food cultivation in the next ice age.
My last comment towards Milankovitch’s theory was being kind. To start with there is NO scientific evidence that the north and south tilt swapted 13000 years ago. The geomagnetic reversals occurs approximately every 12,000 years but the axis of the Earth remained the same. The second very important point is that it is obvious to me and everyone who has taken chemistry 101 that MILANKOVITCH IS TOTALLY IGNORANT OF FINDING A HEAT SOURCE. It takes heat, and a lot of it to create an ice field 4,000 feet thick, such as in Seattle 12000 years ago . New York we think had an ice field over 5000-feet thick. The ratio between glacial ice and snow is 4.68 to 1 foot of ice. That means Seattle had to have a snowfall of over 19,400 feet of snow. The only heat source close to our Earth is the Sun when it nova’s. Tiling the axis of the Earth will not do it. The solution to the ice age and thickness of the glaciers is finding the heat source and that has to be OUR SUN. Have as nice day–if you want to contact me, I think we should talk so I can explain the danger we are all in.
I like to believe that eventually the earth will tilt so much (pole shifting) like an iceberg which has been eroding because of the heat we are experiencing these past few years. In my mind and in (my scenario) earth isn’t a round body floating in space but more like a rough flat/mountainous surface that it will eventually get too light in weight on top flipping us and freezing us instantly . Don’t shit on me, I just like to think that way, is fun .
This explanation misses one key factor, which is changes (and flips) to the suns two magnetic fields, which is also directly linked to sun spot activity. Check out the work of scientst Valentina Zharkova. She has mathematically modeled this changes and demonstrated, beyond doubt, that changes in the suns output is the single greatest driver of earths climate.