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By: Aldo Garcia
December 2, 2010
By: Aldo Garcia
Little Ice Age!
Photo courtesy of: wallpaperez.info
Methods of Studying the Little Ice Age
Scientific Analysis:• Ice cores• Volcanic eruptions • Tree ring investigations• Soil studies• Pollen analysis• Plotting of lichen diameters• Archaeological investigations
Social Records:• Records of town/village
developments• Church records• Tax rolls • Reports on ease of travel• Wine harvests • Cereal production
statistics• Grain prices• Fruit growing returns
Possible Causes for the Little Ice Age
• 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-G
lacier--Glacier-H
otel-and-Furka-Road--Valais--Alps----.jpg
Background courtesy of: http://atm
os.nmsu.edu/~nchanove/A105S04/lecture_37.htm
l
Graph courtesy of: Heaven and Earth.
Low Sunspot Activity
• Wolf Minimum 1280-1340
• Spörer Minimum 1450-1540
• Maunder Minimum 1645-1715
• Dalton Minimum 1790-1820
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
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Background courtesy of: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Tephra/30210599_014_caption.html
• 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.
Volume of Volcanic Ash Erupted
Picture courtesy of: http://w
ww
.cntraveller.com/new
s/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.
Background courtesy of: http://w
ww
.earthwatch2.org/LFF/Livingston/
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
The North Atlantic Oscillation
• Azores high – clockwise
• Icelandic low – counterclockwise
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IO
TD/view
.php?id=914
• Positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation
• Negative phase of North Atlantic Oscillation
Conditions in the Little Ice Age• Erratic weather
• Glacial advance
• Winter carnivals
• Famine
• Deaths
Background courtesy of: http://im
age1.masterfile.com
/getImage/N
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Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://m
rbarlow.w
ordpress.com/2009/04/06/
• Weather was unpredictable
• Very warm and dry summers some years
• Very cold and wet summers some years
• Cycles could last several decades, few years, or a single season
• Stretches of cold weather were interrupted by warm and wet periods
• According to Peter de Menocal, the North Atlantic cooled 3° C.
Wacky Weather
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Picture courtesy of: http://brenthiggs.w
ordpress.com
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Glacial Advancement
The Allalin glacier, near Visp, descended so low that it blocked the Saas Valley forming a lake in 1589.l
The Giétroz glacier advanced into the Dranse River and
caused flooding in the town of Martigny in 1595.
The Ruitor glacier advanced 1 kilometer from 1594-1598
causing flooding in the valleys downstream.
The Mer de Glace glacier inundated the towns of Les Tines and Le Châtelard with
glacial melt water summer in 1599 and 1600.
Background courtesy of: http://w
ww
.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/07/08/deep-blue-ice.htm
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Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://w
ww
.geomatics.uott
awa.ca/copland/
Picture courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Picture courtesy of: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1267757/Britain-facing-bitterly-cold-winters-drop-solar-winds.html
Picture courtesy of: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-first-river-thames-frost-fair-of-1683-a187964
Background courtesy of: http://w
ww
.alaska-in-pictures.com/frozen-river-aerial-alaska-w
ilderness-6928-pictures.htm
Winter Carnivals on the Thames River
• Rivers frequently froze in England and Scotland between 1700-1900.
• The Thames River in London would freeze in the winter months.
• The Thames River began to freeze as early as 1309 and 1315.
• Winter carnivals were a regular occurrence 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
Graph courtesy of: The Little Ice Age.
Background courtesy of: http://indianapublicm
edia.org/amom
entofscience/grapes-give-secrets/
• 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
Wine Production in Europe
Human Survival in Harsh Conditions• Glacial advance causes harvest failures and
the deaths of 137,000 people in Finland.
• The Black Death killed over 25 million people throughout Europe.
• 2 million emigrate from Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
• People lived shorter lives due to malnutrition. • Archaeological evidence shows that people
were shorter in height than their medieval ancestors.
• Elderly and young suffered from accidental hypothermia.
• 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
End of the
Little Ice Age…
ends in as little as 10 years
ends due to a strong
ocean conveyor
ends due to less
volcanic activity
Photo courtesy of: http://w
ww
.threemoviebuffs.com
/review/iceage2them
eltdown
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.
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