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An oblique view of climate

Nature volume 396, pages 405–406 (1998)Cite this article

One explanation for certain patterns of glaciation in the past invokes a large and comparatively swift decline in the tilt, or obliquity, of the Earth. A provocative hypothesis provides a mechanism by which such a decline could have occurred.

How do variations in Earth's orbital and rotational geometry influence climate? Does the climate system, in turn, influence rotation? We all experience the radiative and thermal cycles of night and day, winter and summer. So we are familiar enough with the influence of Earth's rotational and orbital motions on the spatio-temporal pattern of light and temperature to make it easy to imagine how long-term variations in the orbit and rotation would affect climate. Much recent data and modelling help confirm that principle1,2.

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Figure 1: Earth's obliquity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is in the Geodynamics Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mailstop 921.0, Greenbelt, 20771, Maryland, USA

    Bruce G. Bills

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  1. Bruce G. Bills
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Bills, B. An oblique view of climate. Nature 396, 405–406 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24711

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