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The nature of compounding
Russian meteorologist Wladimir Koppen dug deeper into the prevailing theory of the time to discover the true nature of the Ice ages in the 1900’s.
Because of the hemispheric tilt, moderately cool summers (not harsh winters) weren’t hot enough to melt all of the ice from the previous winter.
The leftover snow made it colder, making it easier for snow to accumulate, and inversely because there was more snow, the surface reflected more heat and made it harder to melt the snow.
The reverse hemispheric tilt would be more sunlight, which melts more snow, which reflect less heat, which makes for less snow accumulation and on and on.
This cycle is what led to the 5 recurring ice ages of the earth.
The big take-away: A small bit of extra snow led to continent-sized ice sheets covering the planet within the geological time equivalent of a nap.
Understand that humans will ALWAYS underestimate the nature of compounding because it’s genuinely difficult for our heads to wrap around it.