The Little Ice Age and Scotland

[Viggen]

Astronomers have reported that the Sun is at its dimmest for almost a century. Some scientists believe a similar "quiet spell" is connected to a cooling of temperatures in a period of time called the Maunder Minimum. Also known as the Little Ice Age, it lasted 70 years from 1645 to 1715 and featured The Great Frost which froze the River Thames in London for days.

 

Interestingly, this period coincided with some of the most dramatic events in Scotland's history. A king was forced into exile, there was rebellion, famine, an ill-fated Scottish bid to establish a colony in Central America and a sandstorm buried a coastal estate. The span of 70 years also saw the signing of the Act of Union in 1707 and the unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1715...

 

...full article at the BBC

[Kosmo]

Interesting.

While climate and environmental change clearly effects human populations the main political problems in that period in Scotland were, I believe, more connected with the previous English Civil Wars and even further away in time with the Reformation.

[sylla]

Astronomers have reported that the Sun is at its dimmest for almost a century. Some scientists believe a similar "quiet spell" is connected to a cooling of temperatures in a period of time called the Maunder Minimum. Also known as the Little Ice Age, it lasted 70 years from 1645 to 1715 and featured The Great Frost which froze the River Thames in London for days.

 

Interestingly, this period coincided with some of the most dramatic events in Scotland's history. A king was forced into exile, there was rebellion, famine, an ill-fated Scottish bid to establish a colony in Central America and a sandstorm buried a coastal estate. The span of 70 years also saw the signing of the Act of Union in 1707 and the unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1715...

 

...full article at the BBC

"Little Ice Age" is a misnomer for the "Maunder Minimum", because the former term has been used to describe quite different periods and phenomena.

1645-1715 was an extremely dramatic and complex period not only for Scotland but for all Europe, the European colonies and the whole world (the reign of Louis XIV, to begin with); it's unclear how much of such complexity is attributed by the authors to the climate change.

The ideas from Pollard and Fagan are indeed interesting, but Lamb's writings (at least as quoted here by Mr McKenzie) are simply too farfetched; for example (sic):

- "1690-1728 - Reports of Inuit appearing in Scotland";

- "Between 1693 to 1700... two-thirds of the population died through cold and starvation" (In Scotland).

This can't be serious.

[Artimi]

I havent read Brian Fagan's 'The Little Ice Age" but I did read his 'The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilizations', at least a fair portion of it..

after reading the posts here, I will want to go back and read the book completely.

This book starts about 18000 BC and goes right up the present (that being 2004, when the book was published ).

[Northern Neil]

In his book 'Collapse' ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/15/society ) Jared Diamond suggests that the Little Ice Age starts somewhat earlier, round about 1350. His account of the extinction of the Greenland Vikings due to climatic factors is a harrowing and dramatic read.

[sylla]

In his book 'Collapse' ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/15/society ) Jared Diamond suggests that the Little Ice Age starts somewhat earlier, round about 1350. His account of the extinction of the Greenland Vikings due to climatic factors is a harrowing and dramatic read.

Mr Diamond is evidently talking about not the "Maunder Minimum", but a more conventionally defined "Little Ice Age"; this is an example of why the use of the latter label might be misleading.

[Melvadius]

....The ideas from Pollard and Fagan are indeed interesting, but Lamb's writings (at least as quoted here by Mr McKenzie) are simply too farfetched; for example (sic):

- "1690-1728 - Reports of Inuit appearing in Scotland";

- "Between 1693 to 1700... two-thirds of the population died through cold and starvation" (In Scotland).

This can't be serious.

 

I can't swear to the population decline figures not having folowed it up so far but depending upon the context it may simply have been referring to a part of the highlands severely affected by bad weather. However the inuit story has been around for years and seems to be based on established facts - even if the full story is unlikely to ever be discovered. The British Association for American Studies has an item on

[sylla]

....The ideas from Pollard and Fagan are indeed interesting, but Lamb's writings (at least as quoted here by Mr McKenzie) are simply too farfetched; for example (sic):

- "1690-1728 - Reports of Inuit appearing in Scotland";

- "Between 1693 to 1700... two-thirds of the population died through cold and starvation" (In Scotland).

This can't be serious.

 

I can't swear to the population decline figures not having folowed it up so far but depending upon the context it may simply have been referring to a part of the highlands severely affected by bad weather. However the inuit story has been around for years and seems to be based on established facts - even if the full story is unlikely to ever be discovered. The British Association for American Studies has an item on

[Melvadius]

Thanks for this timely link.

Paleoclimatology is a hard science; these researchers shouldn't refer to alternative speculation. Even if we had any reason to believe that this kayak is not a forgery or equivalent (like the strained first theory reported by Gastrell), it would be a poor evidence for the climate change effect, because:

- the Maunder Minimum finished in 1715; the kayak was purportedly found in 1728.

- Why should a higher temperature make long range kayak travelling any easier? It may have made it more difficult; the Inuit actually profited from the ice cape.

 

I don't make any claims ot be a climatologist but I suspect that the argument is that a warm period would lead to larger sections of the ice cap breaking off - possibly unexpectedly. One argument I heard touted about long bewfore the current concern about climate change kicked in was that in theory a group of inuits may have been trapped on a large ice sheet which broke off from the main ice cap and for some reason or other not been able to leave - possibly a large family group without the means to all get off? Such an ice sheet may have drifted towards Scotland, slowly melting and the last survivor made it off on the only kayak after all hope was lost.

 

Personally I don't know what the true explanation may be but it is an interesting nugget of information and I am sure that more than one Doctorial thesis has (and will) make use of it as part of their argument;)

 

Melvadius

Edited April 29, 2009 by Melvadius