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Little Ice Age
Wed May 21, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi I'm Bryan Yeaton for the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook.
When it comes to weather, the people of Europe had it pretty good a thousand years ago. The
Earth's climate was in one of its mildest periods since the last ice age ended 10,000 years
ago. Settlers from Norway, led by Erik the Red, made it to the west coast of Greenland and
started a colony on that vast northern island with hundreds of settlers raising cattle, sheep
and goats. And back on the continent the weather was so good that people built, among other
things, the great medieval cathedrals that we still admire today. And most of the year there
was plenty of food to go around. But, the good times soon came to an end, thanks to the
"Little Ice Age."
Scientists are still trying to figure out why it happened. They know that the Earth's
temperature fell about one to two degrees Fahrenheit between the years of 1300 and 1850.
Sunspot records indicate that the sun may have been about a quarter of a percent bigger than
it is now. And there were also lots of volcanic eruptions kicking up dust and blocking the
sun. Whatever the cause it was pretty chilly in the northern latitudes for about 500
years.
Since the Little Ice Age ended, the Earth has been gradually warming up but the story of the
Norwegian colony of Greenland remains a chilling tale.
The group was cutoff from Europe by the sea ice in the late 14th century. A hundred years
later German ships came upon the Greenland colony and all that was left of the once thriving
community was one frozen corpse.
Thanks today to contributing writer Bob Henson. Our show is underwritten by Subaru of America
with major support provided by the National Science Foundation.
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