Atmosphere Contents

3. Energy Variation

Milankovitch Cycles

The Earth is subject to variations in the amount of energy it receives from the sun. Over long time periods, 1000s of years, the variation in Earth's energy budget can alter the climate. Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian mathematician, developed the theory that the energy variations experienced by the Earth were from the "eccentricity", "obliquity" and "precession" of the orbit around the sun. These factors are collectively known as the Milankovitch Cycles.

What controls the variation in the Earth's orbit and radiation received by the Earth?