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Question
Does the axis and orbit of the Earth effect the Earths climate, can this be another contribution to global warming?
Yes, the tilt of the Earth’s polar axis can have an effect on global temperatures, because it changes the distribution of heat depositied in the polar regions relative to the equator. The total amount of solar energy reaching the Earth does not change, but the distribution does make a small difference in global temperatures. Such effects, together with small changes in the eccentricity of Earth's orbit, were probably the cause of the ice ages. However this has nothing to do with current global warming. Nether the tilt of the axis nor the eccentricity of the orbit are changing. The solar brightness has also been very nearly constant for as far back as we have been measuring. Today’s global warming is due to the rapid increase in heat trapping gasses such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
July 29, 2009
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