Final answer:
One of the Milankovitch cycles is known as eccentricity, which affects the shape of Earth's orbit around the Sun leading to changes in solar radiation received over a cycle of about 100,000 years. Together with obliquity and precession, these cycles influence long-term climate patterns and ice ages.
Step-by-step explanation:
One of the Milankovitch cycles is known as eccentricity, which is the change in the shape of the Earth's orbital path around the Sun. Over about 100,000 years, the orbit changes from more circular to more elliptical, affecting the distance between the Earth and the Sun and consequently the amount of solar radiation the planet receives. This process, along with two other cycles known as obliquity (the tilt of the Earth's axis) and precession (a wobble in the Earth's axis), orchestrates long-term climate patterns and is associated with the occurrence of ice ages.
Eccentricity is just one factor, and the actual ice ages do not correspond perfectly to a single cycle, but the combination of all cycles, including the longer variations such as 400,000-year and 2.4 million-year cycles in eccentricity and a 1.2 million-year cycle in obliquity, work together to influence Earth's climate.
Precession, another cycle, compares to the wobble observed in a spinning top and affects the timing of the seasons. This cycle lasts about 26,000 years and can alter which hemisphere points towards the Sun at different times of the year, changing the climate accordingly.