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Old January 16th 18, 11:03 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Gerald Kelleher
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Default Have to laugh sometimes

Climate for all planets in the solar system is based on the rate of change in conditions across latitudes as a planet makes a circuit of the Sun and this rate is determined by the degree of inclination -

http://calgary.rasc.ca/images/planet_inclinations.gif

Had the Earth the inclination of Uranus then conditions would be wild in terms of daylight/darkness asymmetry across almost all latitudes making the planet uninhabitable whereas an inclination of Jupiter would produce benign conditions with may also be unfavorable for life and for different reasons.

The is a maximum 90 degree inclination running parallel with the orbital plane and a minimum 0 degree inclination at right angles to the orbital plane thereby creating a climate spectrum. There is therefore no such thing as 'climate change' unless inclination increases or decreases to either side of the spectrum where 90 degrees is a polar climate and 0 degrees is an equatorial climate, not heat/cold conditions but rather how a planet's surface reacts for a given inclination between those two benchmarks.

Pity no astronomers around to enjoy the modeling but that is not such a bad thing in any case.