Just as the Moon\u2019s gravity<\/a> drives the oceans<\/a>\u2019 tides, Mars<\/a>\u2019s gravity<\/a> is now understood to play a significant role<\/a> in shaping longer-term climate<\/a> patterns on Earth<\/a>, including the conditions that trigger ice ages.<\/p>\n Stephen Kane, a professor of planetary astrophysics<\/a> at the University of California<\/a>, launched a research project after examining recent studies linking shifts in Earth\u2019s climate to faint gravitational tugs from Mars. <\/p>\n \u201cI knew Mars had some effect on Earth, but I assumed it was tiny,\u201d Professor Kane said. \u201cI\u2019d thought its gravitational influence would be too small to easily observe within Earth\u2019s geologic history. I kind of set out to check my own assumptions.\u201d<\/p>\n The previous studies had indicated that patterns preserved in deep\u2011sea sediment layers mirror long\u2011term climate cycles supposedly influenced by Mars, despite its small mass and vast distance from Earth. <\/p>\n Professor Kane took a very different approach, however, and ran large computer simulations of the solar system\u2019s behaviour and of the long-term variations in Earth\u2019s orbit and tilt, which govern how sunlight reaches the surface of our planet over tens of thousands to millions of years. <\/p>\n These cycles of shifting orbit and position, called Milankovitch cycles, are central to understanding how and when ice ages begin and end. <\/p>\n![\"Mars,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/iStock-2197640274.jpg\")
Mars, shown here in a to-scale size comparison, has an outsized gravitational effect on Earth (Getty)<\/p>\n