Little Ice Age

The Little Ice Age was a long cool period, mainly documented in Europe and the North Atlantic region, that followed the Medieval Warm Period. Its exact beginning and end are debated, and the dates shown reflect one common convention; some scholars place the start in the sixteenth century. Glaciers advanced in the Alps and Scandinavia, rivers such as the Thames sometimes froze, and cold, wet years contributed to crop failures and famine. Proposed causes include repeated large volcanic eruptions, reduced solar activity such as the Maunder Minimum, and changes in ocean circulation. The cooling was regional and uneven rather than a uniform global ice age, and temperatures rose again from the nineteenth century.

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