Medieval History
Melting icefields on Baffin Island, one of the clearest signs of climate change on Earth, have yielded the strongest evidence yet for the timing and cause of another major climate event from the planet's past: the so-called Little Ice Age, a sudden and mysterious cooling of the globe that began about 700 years ago.
Recently exposed remains of plants that had been buried under Baffin Island ice for centuries provided the crucial clue that has led an international team of researchers to conclude the Little Ice Age was triggered by volcanic eruptions between 1275 and 1300 and was sustained by changes in Arctic sea-ice cover that lasted several centuries.
Writing in the latest issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the team of 13 scientists from the U.S., Iceland and Britain notes that, "there is no clear consensus on the timing, duration, or controlling mechanisms" of the Little Ice Age, which has been attributed by some experts to the onset of a period of reduced heat from the sun.
Click here to read this article from the Vancouver Sun
See also Volcanoes and the Little Ice Age: Not the Smoking Gun? - from Wired.com
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Medieval History
Volcanic activity behind Little Ice Age
Melting icefields on Baffin Island, one of the clearest signs of climate change on Earth, have yielded the strongest evidence yet for the timing and cause of another major climate event from the planet's past: the so-called Little Ice Age, a sudden and mysterious cooling of the globe that began about 700 years ago.
Recently exposed remains of plants that had been buried under Baffin Island ice for centuries provided the crucial clue that has led an international team of researchers to conclude the Little Ice Age was triggered by volcanic eruptions between 1275 and 1300 and was sustained by changes in Arctic sea-ice cover that lasted several centuries.
Writing in the latest issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the team of 13 scientists from the U.S., Iceland and Britain notes that, "there is no clear consensus on the timing, duration, or controlling mechanisms" of the Little Ice Age, which has been attributed by some experts to the onset of a period of reduced heat from the sun.
Click here to read this article from the Vancouver Sun
See also Volcanoes and the Little Ice Age: Not the Smoking Gun? - from Wired.com
- Evidence Of Viking Outpost Found In Canada
For the past 50 years?since the discovery of a thousand-year-old Viking way station in Newfoundland?archaeologists and amateur historians have combed North America's east coast searching for traces of Viking visitors. It has been a long, fruitless...
- Cataclysmic Volcano Wreaked Havoc On Medieval Britain
The results of the largest archaeological investigation ever to have taken place in London are to be published by the Museum of London Archaeology. Some 10,500 human skeletons dating from the 12th century to the 1500s were discovered by archaeologists...
- We Can Learn Lessons From Vikings To Adapt To Global Change
History can teach us how best to respond to climate change, economic turmoil and cultural upheaval, which seems to be pressing concerns of today, scientists have suggested. Scientists studying the past environments and archaeological remains of Greenland...
- Volcanic Artifacts Imply Ice-age Mariners In Prehistoric Greece
Mariners may have been traveling the Aegean Sea even before the end of the last ice age, according to new evidence from researchers, in order to extract coveted volcanic rocks for pre-Bronze Age tools and weapons. A new technique which dates obsidian?volcanic...
- Climate Change And The Fall Of The Roman Empire - Lecture At The University Of Maine
On Tuesday, April 26, Hudson Museum at the University of Maine will present a lecture by Michael McCormick, the Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History at Harvard University, whose research and teaching focuses on the archaeology and history of the...