The Milankovitch cycle theory explains changes in the Earth's orbit that cause variations in seasons over long periods of time. The theory was proposed by Serbian astronomer Milutin Milankovitch and attributes climate shifts to three factors: eccentricity affecting the distance between Earth and Sun, obliquity changing the tilt of Earth's axis, and precession altering the orientation of Earth's rotational axis over thousands of years. Together, these orbital variations influence the amount of solar radiation received to potentially trigger ice ages and temperature fluctuations.