Is Earth's Movement Away from the Sun Impacting Global Warming?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the impact of Earth's movement away from the Sun on global warming, exploring both the validity of this claim and the implications of Earth's distance variations over time. The scope includes theoretical considerations and conceptual clarifications regarding astronomical phenomena and climate change.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether the Earth's movement away from the Sun is significant enough to affect global warming.
  • Another participant challenges the initial claim, stating that it is not true based on their knowledge.
  • A different participant suggests that the confusion may stem from the Moon's orbit increasing in distance from the Earth.
  • One participant provides information about variations in Earth's distance from the Sun over different time scales, noting that while there is a slight increase from 1800 to 2050 AD, it is negligible compared to the overall distance to the Sun.
  • Another participant reiterates the point about the minimal distance increase over the specified time frame and references Kepler's 3rd Law, questioning if this would result in a measurable change in the length of the year.
  • A participant asserts that the Earth is currently spinning away from the Sun, but does not clarify the implications of this statement.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the significance of Earth's movement away from the Sun in relation to global warming. There are competing views regarding the validity of the initial claim and its potential impact.

Contextual Notes

Some claims depend on specific time frames and assumptions about astronomical mechanics, and there are unresolved questions regarding the implications of distance changes on climate over shorter time scales.

SkinniestGoblin
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So I have heard that the Earth is spinning away from the sun at a slow rate. Is this rate fast enough to negate global warming by a significant amount, or is it too insignificant to effect anything?
 
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Where did you hear this? It is not true to my knowledge.
 
I heard about it in another thread.
 
Thanks anyways.
 
There are both long and short time scale variations in the Earth's distance from the Sun. Over the time period of 1800-2050 AD, the distance increases slightly, however from 3000BC-3000AD, it averages out as a decrease in distance. Over really long time scales (billions of years) the Earth will have a net movement away from the Sun due to the Sun's own slow loss of mass. But none of these will cause significant changes in the climate in anything less than a geological time frame. For instance, at the average rate of distance increase between 1800 and 2050 AD, the distance will only have increased by some 2100 km over that 2.5 century time span, which pales in comparison to the 149.6 million km distance to the Sun.
 
Thank you that answers my question.
 
Janus said:
There are both long and short time scale variations in the Earth's distance from the Sun. Over the time period of 1800-2050 AD, the distance increases slightly,For instance, at the average rate of distance increase between 1800 and 2050 AD, the distance will only have increased by some 2100 km over that 2.5 century time span, which pales in comparison to the 149.6 million km distance to the Sun.
By Kepler´s 3rd Law, should it cause a year to grow by 21 ppm, meaning get 10 minutes longer?
 
The Earth is either spinning towards the Sun and speeding up, or slowing down and spinning away from it
At the present time, the Earth is spinning away from the Sun.
 

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