Little Ice Age!
By: Aldo Garcia
Photo courtesy of: wallpaperez.info
By: Aldo Garcia
December 2, 2010
Methods of Studying the Little Ice Age
Scientific Analysis:
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Ice cores
Volcanic eruptions
Tree ring investigations
Soil studies
Pollen analysis
Plotting of lichen diameters
Archaeological investigations
Social Records:
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Records of town/village
developments
Church records
Tax rolls
Reports on ease of travel
Wine harvests
Cereal production statistics
Grain prices
Fruit growing returns
• Low sunspot activity
• High volcanic activity
• Intensified North Atlantic Oscillation
Background courtesy of: http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/photochrom-prints-09/normal_04418-The-Rhone-Glacier--Glacier-Hotel-and-Furka-Road--Valais--Alps----.jpg
Possible Causes for the Little Ice Age
Low Sunspot Activity
• Spörer Minimum
1450-1540
• Maunder Minimum
1645-1715
• Dalton Minimum
1790-1820
Graph courtesy of: Heaven and Earth.
Background courtesy of: http://atmos.nmsu.edu/~nchanove/A105S04/lecture_37.html
• Wolf Minimum
1280-1340
Volcanic Explosivity Index
VEI describes the size of a volcanic eruption. The size is determined by
the volume of erupted material, height of eruption, and duration in
hours. Eruptions are measured by an increasing scale from 0 - 8, 8 being
the strongest. Each level increases by a factor of 10.
31: 5-7
Graph courtesy of: http://www.earlham.edu/~ethribe/web/tambora.htm
Volume of Volcanic Ash Erupted
• Tambora, 1815, with a VEI of 7, released
over 100 cubic kilometers of ash.
• Long Island, 1660, with a VEI of 6,
released 30 cubic kilometers of ash.
• Huaynaputina, 1600, with a VEI of 6,
released 30 cubic kilometers of ash.
• Billy Mitchell, 1580, with a VEI of 6,
released 14 cubic kilometers of ash.
• Bardarbunga, 1477, with a VEI of 6,
released 10 cubic kilometers of ash.
Background courtesy of: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Tephra/30210599_014_caption.html
Picture courtesy of: http://www.cntraveller.com/news/2010/april/volcanic-ash-cloud-leaves-uk-flights-grounded
Stratosphere: 11-30 miles above earth’s surface.
Passenger plane cruises at about 5-9 miles above earth’s surface.
The North Atlantic Oscillation
Background courtesy of: http://www.earthwatch2.org/LFF/Livingston/
• Azores high – clockwise
• Icelandic low – counterclockwise
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=914
• Positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
• Negative phase of North Atlantic Oscillation
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Conditions in the Little Ice Age
• Glacial advance
• Winter carnivals
• Famine
• Deaths
Background courtesy of: http://image1.masterfile.com/getImage/NjAwLTAwMDA4Mjc2bi4wMDAwMDAwMA=ABffLw/600-00008276n.jpg
• Erratic weather
Wacky Weather
• Weather was unpredictable
• Very cold and wet summers some years
m
• Cycles could last several decades, few
years, or a single season
s
w
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
• Stretches of cold weather were interrupted
by warm and wet periods
• According to Peter de Menocal, the North
Atlantic cooled 3° C.
Background courtesy of: http://mrbarlow.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/
d
• Very warm and dry summers some years
Glacial Advancement
The Allalin glacier, near Visp,
descended so low that it
blocked the Saas Valley
forming a lake in 1589.l
Picture courtesy of: http://brenthiggs.wordpress.com
The Mer de Glace glacier
inundated the towns of Les
Tines and Le Châtelard with
glacial melt water summer in
1599 and 1600.
The Ruitor glacier advanced 1
kilometer from 1594-1598
causing flooding in the valleys
downstream.
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
The Giétroz glacier advanced
into the Dranse River and
caused flooding in the town
of Martigny in 1595.
Background courtesy of: http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/07/08/deep-blue-ice.html
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://www.geomatics.uottawa.ca/copland/
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
• Rivers frequently froze in England and
Scotland between 1700-1900.
• The Thames River in London would
freeze in the winter months.
Picture courtesy of: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-first-river-thames-frost-fair-of-1683-a187964
• The Thames River began to freeze as
early as 1309 and 1315.
• Winter carnivals were a regular
occurrence on the Thames River.
Picture courtesy of: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1267757/Britain-facing-bitterly-coldwinters-drop-solar-winds.html
Background courtesy of: http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/frozen-river-aerial-alaska-wilderness-6928-pictures.htm
Winter Carnivals on the
Thames River
Famine
• Climate shift brought late harvests and wet summers
• Summer rains caused
• waterlogged fields
• premature germination
• ruined and reduced crops
• Ireland and Scotland had major crop failures in the winter of 1708/1709
• In 1739, much of the corn and barley were lost due to cold and wet weather in
northern England
• The Irish Potato Famine last 5 years and kills 1.5 million people
Wine Production in Europe
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By 1440, wine growing had virtually disappeared in Great Britain.
From 1560-1600, the cooler and stormier conditions led to late wine harvests in Europe.
Between 1580-1600, wine production suffered in Switzerland, lower Hungary, and parts of
Austria.
By winter 1708/1709 all vineyards in northern France were abandoned until the 20th century
Background courtesy of: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/grapes-give-secrets/
Graph courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Human Survival in Harsh Conditions
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Glacial advance causes harvest failures and
the deaths of 137,000 people in Finland.
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The Black Death killed over 25 million people
throughout Europe.
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2 million emigrate from Sweden, Norway, and
Finland.
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People lived shorter lives due to malnutrition.
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Archaeological evidence shows that people
were shorter in height than their medieval
ancestors.
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Elderly and young suffered from accidental
hypothermia.
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People begin to use cold resistant crops such
as the potato.
• Bad health: tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, bronchitis, heart
attacks, strokes, typhus infections
ends due
to a strong
ocean
conveyor
End of
the
Little Ice
Age…
Photo courtesy of: http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/iceage2themeltdown
ends in
as little
as 10
years
ends due
to less
volcanic
activity
Bibliography
Fagan, Brian. Little Ice Age. USA: Basic Books, 2000.
Hoffman, Doug L., Simmons, Allen. The Resilient Earth. USA: BookSurge Publishing, 2008.
John, Brian S. The Ice Age: Past and Present. Great Britain: Williams Collins Sons and Co. Ltd.
Glasgow, 1977.
Linden, Eugene. The Winds of Change. New York City: Simon and Schuster, 2006.
Plimer, Ian. Heaven and Earth. Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2009.
Siebert L, Simkin T. Volcanoes of the World: An Illustrated Catalog of Holocene Volcanoes and their
Eruptions. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-3,
http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/largeeruptions.cfm 2002-current.
The Little Ice Age: Bill Chill. Dir. History Channel Network. Perf. Edward Herrmann. 2005.