Gather around, children, for your first lesson in Climatology 1.0.1. We shall begin with the basics, of course.
Climate upon the Earth is governed by three geophysical motions in which our planet takes an active role. The first is the spinning upon its axis, resulting in a continuous cycle of warming and cooling. The spin carries weather patterns from west to east; the weather patterns derive from varying amounts of solar energy upon the Earth’s surface. Imagine if the Earth did not spin. One side of the planet would be perpetually hot and the other side perpetually cold; life could not exist under such circumstances, no matter how far from the Sun was Earth.
The second geophysical motion is the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The orbit describes an ellipse (oval-shaped) with the Sun at one of two focal points. The nearest position of the planet to its star is called the perihelion; the farthest position is called the aphelion. If the Earth’s orbit had been circular, we’d have only two seasons, Summer and Winter. But the elliptical nature of the orbit gives us our four seasons.
Interestingly, perihelion occurs in the Winter, January, to be specific, while aphelion occurs in the Summer, in July. One would think the reverse would be the norm. The reason it isn’t is most beneficial to life on Earth. In this alternate scenario, perihelion would boil the planet, while aphelion would freeze it; livable conditions would exist briefly between the two, not a desirable situation at all. Under the current circumstance, life is tolerable the year around.
Now, we come to the really interesting part, the third geophysical motion. It is known as “precession of the equinoxes.” The Earth is tilted from the perpendicular toward the Sun by 23.45 degrees; this tilt causes the planet to wobble just like a children’s top. The North Pole describes an imaginary circle which is completed every 26,500 years.
Precession is retrograde in nature. That is to say, it causes the vernal equinox (the first day of Spring) to occur earlier and earlier in the calendar. Not so long ago, Spring arrived on 21 March; now, it fluctuates between 20 March and 21 March and 13,250 years from now, the seasons will be reversed in the present calendar, i.e. Spring will begin September 21, Summer December 21, Autumn March 21, and Winter June 21. This assumes that humankind will have learned to behave itself and avoid extinction. You’d have to adjust your cultural habits accordingly, dear reader!
There is a fourth geophysical motion which is involved, but the Earth plays only an indirect part. By no mean coincidence, the Milky Way Galaxy spins upon its own axis once every 26,500 years, dragging our planetary system through various regions of space. And, of course, the galaxy is still in the Universe’s expansion mode. Occasionally, the Earth will pass through clouds of dust, left-over material from the creation of the Universe, blocking solar energy from striking the planet and causing an ice age. Once the Earth emerges from the cloud, it will warm up again.
The implication of all these geophysical motions should be obvious. Climate change on our planet is beyond the ability of humankind to prevent, as The Chas has been saying for years. Climate change can be mitigated, however, by changing human behavior; it is anybody’s guess if this is beyond humankind’s ability, but it is absolutely necessary. And, if you really want to know the truth, dear reader, the more we ruin our environment, the sicker we become; and the sicker we become, the more likely we will succumb to future, ever more, pandemics. Did I mention extinction?
We begin the healing of our Mother the Earth, and ourselves, by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, switching to regenerative agriculture, removing know-nothings from all levels of government, and placing a premium on social education.
Just a thought.