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Climate events of the Last 1,000 Years
Medieval Warming
Period- 800 A.D-1300 A.D.
The Medieval Warm Period has been a major source of disagreement in the Global Warming debate.
The main question is “is
the current pattern of warming unusual in history?” Based on Michael Mann’s tree ring study, the IPCC claimed
that the Medieval Warm Period was restricted to the North Atlantic. The Medieval Warm Period was very well documented in European History. During the Medieval Warm Period, grapes were grown all the way up to Britain. This was also a time when the Vikings settled in Greenland taking advantage of the land that
could be used for new settlers from Scandinavia. From Greenland, the Vikings continued as far west as Newfoundland, Canada,
where 2,400 Viking objects have been excavated. (C4) (A18)
Soon and Baliunas (2003) listed dozens of temperature studies limited
to the southern hemisphere or worldwide that clearly indicated the presence of the Medieval Warm Period.
Amongst the studies that showed the Medieval Warm Period in the Southern Hemisphere were those that examined ice cores from
Antarctica and glaciers in the Southern Andes and ocean sediments from South Africa.
Therefore, it is easy to conclude that current warming is not unusual,
although in my opinion current temperatures are warmer than the Medieval Warm Period.
Little Ice Age-
The Little Ice Age lasted from about 1300 A.D until about 1900 A.D. During that time, much of the Northern Hemisphere was
affected in many negative ways. The unfortunate events that occurred was sickness and plague, crop failure, chaos, and many
deaths. Even in American History, many events occurred during this cold time period. George Washington
was one of the familiar names that experienced the cold temperatures of the Little Ice Age. In 1776, George Washington crossed
the Delaware River to fight the Hessian troops in New Jersey, the famous painting “Delaware Crossing” shows the
intense chill that Washington’s troops faced going into battle. During the crossing two people died of hypothermia,
but this was only the beginning of the deaths for Washington’s troops. By December of 1777, 2,500 troops (out of 10,000)
died due to disease and exposure.
 Local
residents are hard pressed to remember any time that the Delaware River iced up like it did at the time of George Washington's
crossing. (C4)
Solar
Events of the Little Ice Age
Wolfe Minimum
1280 A.D. to 1350 A.D.
This period of
low sunspot activity was the first following the Medieval Warming Period. This was also a time of disease, and the Bubonic
plague which killed more than 25,000,000 people. The spread of the plague was worsened by people staying in their homes due
to the cold. Rats, whose fleas carried the bacteria, were attracted to the warm homes. (C4)
This was a time also, when the Vikings in Greenland began declining,
by 1350 A.D Western Settlements in Greenland were abandoned. (A18)
Sporer Minimum
1420 A.D- 1570 A.D.
The Sporer Minimum
is probably the strongest and longest lasting event of the Little Ice Age because it shows up more clearly on temperature
reconstructions than the other solar minimums.
Between 1480 and 1500 the Vikings’ population in Greenland
disappeared. This followed the loss of the trading vessel, the Greenland-Knarr, their inability to grow crops in the colder
climate and their refusal to adapt and learn from the local Inuit population and hunt marine mammals due to racial bias. (C4)
(A18)
Maunder Minimum-
1645 A.D, to 1715 A.D.
The Maunder minimum is the best known decrease in solar activity
because direct observations of sunspots were being made by astronomers at that time.
During the Maunder Minimum, a small village in the French Alps was being
threatened by an advancing glacier. This was such an unusual event for the people
of the Neveache village who believed that the glacier was “possessed” by demonic forces, so their religious leaders
proformed an exorcism on it. (C4)
Dalton Minimum-
1790 A.D -1820 A.D.
Napoleon Bonaparte was another one of history’s well known
generals who faced the extreme cold of the Little Ice Age. During Napoleon’s retreat from Russia, only 30,000 of the
600,000 troops survived on the way back to France in the Winter of 1812. (A19)
The extreme cold of the Dalton Minimum was worsened by the eruption of
Mount Tambora in 1815, which cooled the temperatures even further because its debris went into the atmosphere, blocking the suns rays. The following year is known as the year without a summer and caused
a large migration of people from New England to the west. (C4)
Kristen Minimum- 1880-1910 A.D. This
was the last cooling period of the Little Ice Age, or the first cooling period period of the modern max. There really is not
a name for this cooling period but I needed a reference (and hope it catches on).
Modern Max-1910 A.D-current
The modern maximum of solar activity for the past 100 years is well
documented by solar proxies and direct observation.
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