physical causes of climate change

Question 1

what are SUN SPOTS?
How do they cause climate change?

Answer 1

sun spots are variations of solar activities which tend to happen in cycles of 11 years.
This causes climate change because when the sun is more active, the earth recieves more solar energy causing tempretures to increase

Question 2

what are the MILANKOVICH CYCLES?

Answer 2

a theory which suggests that changes in the earths orbit and tilt are what alter the amount of energy the earth recieves from the sun

Question 3

how often do changes occur in the earths TILT - what does this mean in terms of the climate?

Answer 3

every 41,000 years
a greater tilt towards the sun means more light and solar energy for the polar regions

Question 4

how often do changes in the earths ORBIT occur? - what does this mean in terms of the climate?

Answer 4

changes ocur in cycles of 97,000 years
a circular cycle means the planents distance from the sun remains constant and seasonal, variations in the earths temp are minimal
wereas eliptical orbit produces more extreme seasonal variations

Question 5

what is oceanic circulation?
how does it effect climate change?

Answer 5

during oceanic circulation, retreating ice caps release aditional fresh water into the ocean leading to oceanic circulation changes.
this effects climate change because it can result in changes to the distrabution of heat around the planet