Application of the Astronomical Theory of Climate Change to Explain Global Climate Events in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene

Abstract

The study demonstrates the synchronicity of the positive and negative phases of summer irradiation of the Northern Hemisphere in the precession cycle with periods of global climate warming and cooling for the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The cold phase 50–41.5 ka BP corresponds to the Shestikhinsky cooling in Eastern Europe and the development of glaciation in North America. The warm phase 41–30 ka BP accounts for climate warming in Europe (Bryansk interstadial, Paudorf, Gotwei warming) and in North America (Plum Point Interstadial). The period of maximum development of glaciation in Europe and North America is synchronized with the cold phase 29.5–17.5 ka BP. The warm phase 17–5.5 ka BP is associated with the transition from the cold Pleistocene to the relatively warm Holocene. The Little Ice Age falls on the cold phase 5 ka BP – 5000 CE. It is expected that warming of the climate with respect to the present will correspond to the Warm Epoch 5000–13 000 CE. Changes in solar radiation arriving in the first astronomical half of the year in 5° latitude zones were determined for all astronomical months of the tropical year for climatic precession extrema. This makes it possible to compare spatiotemporal changes in Earth’s solar climate during years of climate precession extrema.