11/1    What is the technical term for "wobbling axis of the earth's pole,
        causing retreating and advancing of the ice repeatedly in the last
        40,000 years?" I need to know for the geography class. THANKS!
        \_ precession
           Merriam-Webster's CollegiateĀ® Dictionary contains 2 items
           relevant for "precession".

           *

           pre.ces.sion n [NL praecession-, praecessio, fr. ML, act of
           preceding, fr. L praecedere to precede] (1879): a
           comparatively slow gyration of the rotation axis of a
           spinning body about another line intersecting it so as to
           describe a cone -- pre.ces.sion.al adj

           *

           precession of the equinoxes (1621): a slow westward motion
           of the equinoxes along the ecliptic caused by the
           gravitational action of sun and moon upon the
           protuberant matter about the earth's equator
             \_ when the axis of a spinning body does not rotate about a
                second axis, but rather wobbles, it is nutation, and the
                body is said to nutate. I don't know if that's what the
                earth does, i just know this term from physics.
                body is said to nutate.
        \_  Major glacial events in the Quaternary have coincided when
            -the phases of axial tilt
            -precession of equinoxes
            -eccentricity of orbit
            are all lined up to give the northern hemisphere the least amount
            of summer insolation. We are currently at the stage where the
            axial is tilting outward (earth can tilt as much as 26 degrees),
            and it is a factor that is more likely to cause of global warming
            than anything else.