The major influence of the PFM on the earth’s climate is that it causes the ocean’s dominating (located over ocean’s) regional high-pressure systems to become displaced from their normal seasonal position for extended periods of time. The PFM is cyclical, as is our weather and climate, and fortunately, the PFM lunar cycles can be traced back through history, and also be forecast many years into the future.
Figure 14: Annual tilt of the earth from 23.45 degrees north latitude to 23.45 degrees south latitude. It takes 365 days to complete this cycle, and to complete the earth’s path around the sun.
It is common knowledge that as the earth goes through its annual and seasonal axis tilt (Figure 14) from the perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic orbit (in respect to the earth’s equator) from 23.45° north latitude (northern hemisphere summer) to 23.45° south latitude (southern hemisphere’s summer and northern hemisphere’s winter), the sun’s direct solar radiation (sunshine) received at any given latitude (spot) on earth, likewise changes.
It is also known that this causes a direct teleconnection between the sun’s radiance (sunshine) received at all latitudes of the earth, with the earth’s atmospheric temperatures resulting in the earth’s four seasons: summer, fall, winter and spring.
Earth’s annual axis oscillation causes recurring climate cycles within the climate. Of interest is the longer-term climate cycles lasting 9-years, 72-years, 115-years, 230-years, or even longer periods of 50,000 years or more.
Are they related to natural interactions between the earth’s oceans and atmosphere? Or are they related to changes in the yearly axis oscillation of the earth, or, perhaps to another cyclical event such as gravitational cycles of the moon – or some combination?
It is important to note that the elliptical path of the moon around the earth is similar to the elliptical path of the earth around the sun, but with some differences. It takes approximately 365 days for the earth to complete its annual orbit around the sun, and it only takes approximately 27.5 days for the moon to complete its orbit around the earth (Figure 15).
Both elliptical paths of the moon’s and earth’s orbits around their respective bodies also differ in their proximities to their orbital bodies. For instance, the earth always makes its closet approach to the sun in January; this is called the perigee of the orbit. In contrast to this, the furthest approach is called the apogee and is normally achieved in June or July.