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Climate Change on Mars and Earth - Coggle Diagram
Climate Change on Mars and Earth
Paragraph 1
Mars and Earth have similar chemical compositions, including iron and rock.
Mars has water and has experienced ice ages like Earth.
Earth's ice ages occur about every 100,000 years; the last one ended 12,000 years ago.
Mars’s most recent ice age occurred around 370,000 years ago.
Paragraph 2
Variations in orbital patterns known as Milankovitch cycles affect the amount of solar energy that reaches a planet.
There are three types of Milankovitch cycles: eccentricity, obliquity, and precession.
The Milankovitch cycle that most contributes to climate change is obliquity.
Mars’s tilt varies dramatically over time, up to 60 degrees.
Paragraph 3
Ice ages on Earth result in major changes in climate, sea level, and topography.
In the most recent ice age, global temperatures and sea levels dropped, and the ice grew to more than 12,000 feet thick.
Sheets of ice spread across Canada, Scandinavia, Russia, and South America.
When our current interglacial period began about 12,000 years ago, the climate began to warm and glaciers began to melt.
Paragraph 4
On Mars, climate change and ice formation occur over time at a variety of latitudes.
Mars’s extreme tilt causes the polar regions to be exposed to more sun, making them warmer.
Ice from the polar regions retreats and moves closer to the center of the planet.
Evidence of past ice ages on Mars can be seen in glacier ice covered by rock and dust.
Paragraph 5
Mars is currently in a warmer interglacial period.
The study of climate change and ice behavior on Mars may help scientists understand the way cycles affect climate on Earth.