It my understanding that astronomers say that the earth wobbles on its axis, completing this cycle approx. every 26,000 years. Some astronomers have associated this wobble with the ice age and warming cycles.
major bean wrote: It my understanding that astronomers say that the earth wobbles on its axis, completing this cycle approx. every 26,000 years. Some astronomers have associated this wobble with the ice age and warming cycles.
Yes, that would be the Milankovitch Cycle. I think a lot of scientists agree with the concept, but there are several anomalies still to be worked out and explained as mentioned in this link...
There are clearly several causes of global temperature trends. As mentioned earlier, solar activity is one as well. So far as I know, all have been natural until recently (last 60-100 years or so) where many scientists feel CO2 levels, mainly human caused during that time, are another influence on top of the natural ones.
