Past Climates - Natural Drivers  Concepts

Volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts and solar variability have all influenced Earth's past climate. But the biggest force behind climate change prior to the industrial revolution involves variations of the Earth's orbit and tilt. A Serbian engineer named Milutin Milankovitch interned in a library during World War I developed this theroy using only a slide rule for his calculations during four years of detainment. His explanation, known as the Milankovitch cycles, describes variations in Earth's orbit as follows:

Widespread acceptance of Milankovitch's theories occurred in the decades just after his death when investigations of sea floor sediments and the Vostok ice core exhibited periodicities matching his calculations.