Is it true that at the present point in time the earth is the closest to the sun it has been in 25000years?

Answer 1

quoted from wikipedia (of which some may dispute its validity, further references follow the exerpt):

"Milankovitch cycles are the collective effect of changes in the Earth's movements upon its climate, named after Serbian civil engineer and mathematician Milutin Milanković. The eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession of the Earth's orbit vary in several patterns, resulting in 100,000 year ice age cycles of the Quaternary glaciation over the last few million years. The Earth's axis completes one full cycle of precession approximately every 26,000 years. At the same time, the elliptical orbit rotates, more slowly, leading to a 22,000 year cycle in the equinoxes. In addition, the angle between Earth's rotational axis and the normal to the plane of its orbit changes from 21.5 degrees to 24.5 degrees and back again on a 41,000 year cycle. Presently, this angle is 23.44 degrees."

there is some dissention on the 100k year cycles, but general agreement on all the other cycles including the 26000 year cycles. anybody would be a fool to discount fossil and geological history which points at the obvious existance of ice ages and the fact that we are STILL COMING OUT OF ONE RIGHT NOW, possibly on our way back into one in another 10000 years or so. i think people just want a reason to hate each other, raise prices, wage wars, etc. etc. instead of realizing that we've only been studying weather for 200 years or so and no KIDDING we're going to finally notice trends in rising temperatures. not like we're doing anything to better our circumstances, but nothing humans do can ULTIMATELY cause the demise of earth, just ourselves.

Answer 2

Braxton is right. I don't know what planet frdsgt is from, but population has nothing to do with it. All the people who live on the earth are made from the stuff of the earth to begin with so it doesn't matter how many there are or how much they weigh. The matter of the earth can change shape (like from a dozen donuts to a pound of flab) but since the matter does not leave the earth, the weight of the planet doesn't change.
Likewise, the rotation of the earth has nothing to do with it's orbit around the sun. Yes, the earth is rotating more and more slowly, but that doesn't affect its velocity through space which is the countering force of the sun's gravity.
The only way that the earth could spiral into the sun's orbit is if either or both were to gain more mass without changing the speed of the earth in its orbit OR to slow the earth down in its orbit and not change its mass.
And since the sun is converting matter into energy and radiating it out into the solar system at a rate of thousands of tons every second, then the sun's gravity is actually getting weaker, albeit very slowly.
Now it is possible that the earth's orbit can be morphed a small amount due to the purturbations of other planets (like Jupiter) and as a result, we may swing a few thousand miles closer to the sun once in a great while, but it is extreemly minor and hardly worth mentioning in the scheme of the size of the solar system.

Answer 3

Are you perhaps thinking about the distance to the Sun during different Earth seasons? For instance, in winter Earth is actually closer to the Sun than in summer.

Overall, Earth's distance from the Sun is increasing very, very slightly with time. The Sun loses some 600-million metric tons of its mass per second as it converts hydrogen into helium (..called 'nuclear fusion'). This loss of mass is tiny compared to the total mass of the Sun, but still affects its gravitational attraction on Earth. Therefore, as the Sun loses mass it tugs a little bit less on Earth which would very slightly increase our distance.

Take a look at this website for more details ==>http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=563

Answer 4

No.

We *are* near perihelion (the time of the year when Earth is closest to Sun in its orbit), which happens the first week of January. But for that to be the closest in 25,000 years, that would mean that the eccentricity of Earth's orbit must also be at a maximum.

The eccentricity of Earth's orbit *does* change with time, but right now, the eccentricity is fairly low, meaning that Earth's distance is pretty average compared to the long term.

Answer 5

I guess the earth is going to be kind of close on January 3rd as this corresponds to "perihelion" the closest point the earth gets to the sun during the year. It also corresponds to a full moon so that will make us even closer. It would be a bit of a stretch to say its the closest in 25k years, but it might be true.
Don't forget the sun-block!

Answer 6

I wouldn't be supprised for a very good reason.

Astronomers have found wavering stars basicly showing that there are planets surrounding them and in some circomstances there are whole solor systems. Some of these stars have planets after their version of "jupiter" but none before it and its "jupiter" is extremely close to the sun.

Some astronomers believe that eventually the planets get pulled closer and closer into the sun and this is how the earth will cease to exist in the very very distant future.

Answer 7

It might well be, as all the planets in the solar system could be spiraling towards the Sun.
This is because even if we assume they move in a vacuum it is actually not so. The vacuum is not perfect and there is always an amount of friction slowing down their speed.
Also the Earth's rotation should be slowing down, because of the energy lost by friction in the tides and crust deformation due to the Moon's attraction.

Answer 8

No. The eath's path is not quite a perfect circle, which means that there are times during the year when it is closer to the sun. But there is no evidence that the earth is any closer to the sun today than it was 25,000 years ago.

And, no, this has NOTHING to do with global warming.

If someone has some sources to dispute this, please post.

Answer 9

well, in the last 25,000 yrs the earth has revolved around the sun in a constant rate and distance. due to the staggering increase in population and the drastic increase in the weight of the world because of the population increase, the earth is falling closer to the sun at a gradual rate. at the current pace of population growth in china and india the earth will fall at an increased rate - approx. 1in/10years. not only that, but there is a growing worry over the population influx of immigrants into the U.S. causing the world to shift on its axis and making the rotation of the earth erratic and unbalanced. if we continue to grow at this rate and the earth is unable to regain it's balance and proper distance from the sun...mankind as we know it will cease to exist...
so what is the solution? we have to exercise and lose weight so that we can reduce the total weight on the earth. if just the u.s can lose 3lb's/person the weight will be back to normal and the earth will regain it's proper rotation and distance. so it's up to you...save the world my friend.


edit: note to sparc 77... lighten up ... i'm being facetious

Answer 10

technically, it may be the closest its been since they were able to actually make a semi-accurate distance estimation. as far as the 25000 yr idea, well the scientists are using modern models and guestimating, as we had no idea 25000 years ago, much less whether we circled the sun or vice versa. I trust very little "science" information over 500 yrs old.