Milankovitch cycles

Summary

Milankovitch cycles are the slow, quasi-periodic changes of the Earth's orbit and of the tilt and direction of its axis. They change the distribution of sunlight over latitude and season. The three main cycles are those of the eccentricity of the orbit, of the tilt of the axis, and of the precession of the axis. Milutin Milanković computed their effect on insolation and proposed that they pace the ice ages. Records of ocean sediments show the same periods. The cycles are now accepted as the pacemaker of the glacial cycles of the last few million years.