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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Science
Harry Cockburn

Mars’s gravity shapes ice ages on Earth, new research finds

Mars is half the size of Earth, with one-tenth of our planet’s mass, and at the nearest point in its orbit is over 33 million miles away. Yet new research highlights the extraordinary influence the Red Planet has on our own world.

Just as the Moon’s gravity drives the oceans’ tides, Mars’s gravity is now understood to play a significant role in shaping longer-term climate patterns on Earth, including the conditions that trigger ice ages.

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