Long Term Climate Change

Question 1

Explain how eccentricity changes our climate.

Answer 1

Eccentricity is a 100,000 year process and is where the shape of the earth’s orbit changes from circular to more elliptical. A circular orbit means the differences in temperature between each season will be less because the earth is the same distance from the sun throughout it’s orbit.

Question 2

Explain how precession changes our climate.

Answer 2

Precession is a 26,000 year process where the earth’s axis wobbles. This means different hemispheres face the sun at different times during the 26,000 years; changing the climate by swapping the seasons around.

Question 3

Explain how obliquity changes our climate.

Answer 3

Obliquity is a 41,000 year process where the earth’s axis tilts between 22.2 and 24.5o. The more tilted the earth’s axis is, the more extreme the seasons will be because during summer the earth will be closer to the sun and during winter the earth will be further from the sun.