Why is the climate on earth different today than in prehistoric time? Has the earth's axis changed?

Question

Many regions on earth have very different climates today compared to prehistoric times. How can some areas have been much warmer than they are today? Did the earth's axis change and thereby change the relationship of the areas on earth to the sun?

Answer 1

All kinds of things changed: the axis does change, which emphasizes or de-emphasizes seasons. Along with that, the plane the earth is in changes, and the distance from the sun changes subtly, both of which can cause change. The continents move around, sometimes being on the poles and sometimes on the equator, the earth's climate goes through cycles too. When a continent goes over a pole, the earth usually goes into an ice age, like now (Antartica, ~Greenland), and in the Permian, 300 million years ago (Gondwanaland-South America, Australia, Antartica, and Africa combined).

Greenhouse effect is a big part too. This happens naturall when productivity is high (Carboniferrous, 350 Ma; Creteaceous, 150 Ma) or unaturally (our human-induced pulse of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is higher now than the last 0.5 million years).

Answer 2

Sorry to conrtadict Archangel, but the axis has actually changed, and continues to change due to catastrophic events, but this is not necessarily the cause of world climate change. It depends who you want to believe as to why the climate changes. Some will tell you that when the Earth was formed it was a messy, lava ridden, ultra-hot place with crazy gases that eventually formed an atmosphere. Some people will tell you it was just created, and continues to "be".

I am in no way passing judgements on beliefs, after all, nothing has yet been aired that can prove either way. But essentially the changing atmosphere has always had a lot to do with the climate, as have catastrophic events (think meteors, volcanoes, landslides etc) that can truly effect climate. Also, as with anything, the Earth changes in cycles. Rocks from, are eroded, get compressed, melt, rise, explode and sink, dust clouds cover the skies, water spreads, the Earth cools, ice forms, continents freeze, the atmosphere changes and on and on and on. But you're right, the Earth's rotation is not perfect, and certain changes can affect the climate. I think you'd be better off readin Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything, not to be confused with Stephen Hawking's book.

Answer 3

This is just an addition to some of the other answers. Consider the fact that the Earth's orbit around the Sun has changed many times in the history of the universe. By change I mean the the orbit was actually longer at the farthest end of the elliptical orbit. This would indeed make an ice age as the Earth traveled farther from the Sun. So what caused this change in orbit? Look at the Arizona crater. What happens when you shoot a BB at a spinning top? It wobbles but then resumes its spinning as it did before. You can take it from here.
Good night and Good Luck.

Answer 4

For one thing, continents float around like icebergs. Alaska was once in the tropics. No one knows why the earth goes in and out of ice ages, but there are at least 100 theories. That is why Global Warming is an uncertain science. No one knows if the earth in its normal cycle should be heating up or cooling down. The normal state of the earth for the last 10 million years or so is in an ice age. We are now in the abnormal state of the earth: a warming period of 10,000 to 20,000 years before the next ice age.

Answer 5

There are a lot of factors why the earth is warming up one is because of pollution, the carbon dioxide our cars emitted and factories, others are natural disaster like vulacanic eruptions

and I think last i millions years climate is continously changing as if the climate is under also in one long range climate that will take time for it to cycle.

Answer 6

lots of reasons can cause this:

1) plate tectonics and continental drift have moved continents all throughout the world and thus they could have possessed many different climates throughout their history

2) the sun goes through various cycles of energy release and this causes cooling / warming patterns on earth

3) powerful volcanic eruptions on earth have been so powerful that the ash they eject blocks out sunlight and causes global cooling

there are also many other natural causes that have the ability to change climate

as for the axis changing, i'm not too positive it has

Answer 7

You have to consider that during prehistoric times, the continents were different (i.e Pangea) where all of the continents were bunched together. The land mass was differenet so the currents in the ocean and therefore the air currents were different which influenced the climate.

Answer 8

well,
"uniformitarianism" speaks - past was not different from present but this is only broadly correct.

Since the planet earth or the solar system came into existence some 4,600 million years ago, a few major changes have occured like:

(1)change of position and configuration (shape and size of continents and oceans on earth with respect to the equator or the axis of the earth.

(2) The magnetic axis of the earth has flipped and drifted.

(3) Massive meteoritic impacts and consequential dust ejecta and /or induced major volcanic eruptions.

(4) Subtle changes in the planetary orbits.

(5) Changes in total biomass content on earth since its origin.

(6) Cooling history of earth since its origin from a hot gaseous mass to a differentiated "solid" mass.

(7) global changes in oxygen/carbon di oxide ratios over the million of years through conversion of abiotic mass to biotic mass.

(8) major changes in orographic configuration and relief on surface as well as oceanic depths.

(9) like wise changes in sun's energy supply due to its own cycle of disturbances like solar flares etc.

so, its very difficult to say which one single factor has caused the cliamtic changes, we really know very little of the past, The geoscientist with their interdisciplinary studies have been trying to undersatnd this unknown frontier. The total matter content of earth including its atmosphere has not changed significantly except the extra terrestrial addltion from meteorites,asteroids etc.

I see the climatic changes as the affect of distribution of this mass which have controlled the movement of global air and oceanic currents, total precipitation etc. Massive urbanisation on earths surface has changed the pattern of terrestrial radiation, evapo-transpiration which have also affected the atmospheric parameters globally.

Changes on earth, whether of relief and configuration and climate has been the cause of evolution of different life forms in phased manner, the adaptive and competent life forms survived and the non-adaptive or slow to adaptation life forms got exterminated or became extinct. The giant dinosaurs became extinct as they could not "respond" to the rapid environmental changes that were occuring that time for what ever reasons.


A ray hope exist to change the present high carbon di oxide and low oxygen based systems that we have eveloved around us, when the hydrogen fuel cell takes over our present hydrocarbon based energy requirements. I feel the induction of hydrogen cell would be the next giant step after the micro-chip in the life history of man on the planet earth. These two gases are fundamental to air circulation and to weather and climatic conditions.

Answer 9

I't because the plates of the earth keep moving

Answer 10

No, the earth is just slowly coolin internally.