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The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age

Discover the impact of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age on Viking settlements, exploration to North America, and climate shifts. Uncover how above-average temperatures turned into glacier invasion, leading to the abandonment of settlements. Learn about the challenges faced during Leif Eriksson's exploration, conflicts with indigenous people, and the causes of the Little Ice Age. Explore the role of volcanoes, the Sun, and natural climate feedback in shaping this historical period.

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The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age

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  1. The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age

  2. The Medieval Climate Anomaly

  3. The Vikings Explore… • Colonised Iceland between 870-930AD • Farms prosperous in medieval times were engulfed by glaciers by 1700 • Erik the Red, Thorvaldsson reached Greenland about 985AD • The settlers experienced above average temperatures for the first crucial years • Eastern Settlement on the south coast, abandoned by 1500 • Western settlement near current Nuuk, abandoned around 1350. Sea-ice and snow probably played a role.

  4. The Vikings Explore… • Leif Eriksson, Erik the Red’s son, arrived in North America in 1000AD. • He establishdVínland(wineland), Helluland (slab land), Skaeling land (wretch land) and Markland (forest land). • Travel between Greenland and North America would only have been possible for 2 months of the year. • In years of heavy sea-ice, travel would have been perilous. • Conflicts with indigenous people probably led to the abandonment of the American settlements after a few years.

  5. The Little Ice Age – When was it? • Three particularly cold intervals: one beginning about 1650, another about 1770, and the last in 1850, each separated by intervals of slight warming • May have been independent events at different places at different times • Peak cooling in Europe was in the 17th Century • Peak cooling in N. America was in 19th Century

  6. The Little Ice Age – Where was it?

  7. The Little Ice Age - Volcanoes Volcanic forcing of climate over the past 1500 years: An improved ice core-based index for climate models 2008, ChaochaoGao, Alan Robock, and Caspar Ammann

  8. The Little Ice Age – The Sun

  9. The Little Ice Age – Conclusions Changes in the Sun and volcanic activity, coupled with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (the pressure difference between Iceland and the Azores), the ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, the north Atlantic storm track and feedbacks involving the quantity of polar ice and the natural release of greenhouse gases combined to give the Little Ice Age, at least in Europe and at best in the northern Hemisphere.

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