The Medieval Warm Period, the Little Ice Age and simulated climatic variability

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 677-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age

scholarly journals Climate Variability in Central Europe during the Last 2500 Years Reconstructed from Four High-Resolution Multi-Proxy Speleothem Records

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Sarah Waltgenbach ◽  
Dana F. C. Riechelmann ◽  
Christoph Spötl ◽  
Klaus P. Jochum ◽  
Jens Fohlmeister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Cold Period ◽  
Cave System ◽  
Dark Ages

The Late Holocene was characterized by several centennial-scale climate oscillations including the Roman Warm Period, the Dark Ages Cold Period, the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age. The detection and investigation of such climate anomalies requires paleoclimate archives with an accurate chronology as well as a high temporal resolution. Here, we present 230Th/U-dated high-resolution multi-proxy records (δ13C, δ18O and trace elements) for the last 2500 years of four speleothems from Bunker Cave and the Herbstlabyrinth cave system in Germany. The multi-proxy data of all four speleothems show evidence of two warm and two cold phases during the last 2500 years, which coincide with the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period, as well as the Dark Ages Cold Period and the Little Ice Age, respectively. During these four cold and warm periods, the δ18O and δ13C records of all four speleothems and the Mg concentration of the speleothems Bu4 (Bunker Cave) and TV1 (Herbstlabyrinth cave system) show common features and are thus interpreted to be related to past climate variability. Comparison with other paleoclimate records suggests a strong influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation at the two caves sites, which is reflected by warm and humid conditions during the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period, and cold and dry climate during the Dark Ages Cold period and the Little Ice Age. The Mg records of speleothems Bu1 (Bunker Cave) and NG01 (Herbstlabyrinth) as well as the inconsistent patterns of Sr, Ba and P suggests that the processes controlling the abundance of these trace elements are dominated by site-specific effects rather than being related to supra-regional climate variability.

scholarly journals Vegetation changes in the Hotyn Upland over the last 2000 years (based on pollen data)

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Gerasimenko ◽  
T. Yurchenko ◽  
Ye. Rohozin
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Cool Period ◽  
Surface Samples ◽  
Pollen Surface ◽  
Short Period

Pollen study of two soil sections, located in two different relief positions (the gully bottom at Sadgora 1 and the upper part of a slope at Ridkivtsi I) enables us to show vegetational and climatic changes in the Bukovyna area (the Chernivtsi region) during the last 2000 years (the end of the Early Subatlantic, the Middle and Late Subatlantic). The reconstructions of past vegetation are based on the analyses of pollen surface samples, taken from the soils of different ecotops in the sites’ vicinity. The reconstructed short-period phases of environmental change correspond well with those established in other areas. These are the end of the “Roman warm period” (before the 14C date of 1.74 ka BP), with the humid climate; the relatively dry “Dark Ages cool period” (before the 14C date of 1.19 ka BP); the wet “Medieval warm period”; the cool “Little Ice Age” (with its wetter beginning and drier ending) and the modern warm phase (the last 150 years).Centennial environmental changes − the cooling within the Medieval Warming (XI cent.) and the warming within the “Little Ice Age” (XV cent.) – have been detected. Human impact on the vegetation can be demonstrated – forest clearance (with the presence of particles of microscopic charcoal and pollen of pyrophitic plants), the introduction of thermophilous walnut during warm periods, and the appearance of pasture lands in the place of former fern patches and woods during the “Little Ice Age”, and the last warm phase (with the presence of pollen of pastoral synanthropic plants). In the last 2000 years, broad-leaved woodland, dominated by hornbeam, grew extensively near Sadgora and Ridkivtsi only during the “Medieval Warm Period”.

scholarly journals Climate changes and human activities recorded in the sediments of Lake Estanya (NE Spain) during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Morellón ◽  
Blas Valero-Garcés ◽  
Penélope González-Sampériz ◽  
Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia ◽  
Esther Rubio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Ne Spain

Biogeochemical evidence for environmental and vegetation changes in peatlands from the middle Yangtze river catchment during the medieval warm period and little ice Age

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110259
Author(s):  
Jia Sun ◽  
Chunmei Ma ◽  
Bin Zhou ◽  
Jiawei Jiang ◽  
Cheng Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Jiangxi Province ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations

The reconstruction of past climates and vegetation can provide valuable information for understanding the mechanisms of the variability of the East Asian summer monsoon in eastern China. In this study, organic geochemical evidence from the compositions of sedimentary leaf-wax stable isotopes and n-alkane parameters investigates the changes in vegetation and climate over the last 1200 years in the Xiyaohu peatland, Jiangxi Province, southeast China. Combined with temperature records, three climatic periods are presented: (a) a warm and humid period with an increase in C4 plants from 900 to 1450 AD, which coincides with the Medieval Warm Period (MWP); (b) a cool and dry period with the expansion of C3 plants from 1450 to 1800 AD, coinciding with the Little Ice Age (LIA); and (c) the Present Warm Period (PWP) from 1800 AD until the present, with warm and wet conditions. The sub-stages within the MWP and LIA intervals are also presented. The earlier MWP stage (900–1125 AD) was drier than the latter one (1125–1450 AD), and the earlier LIA stage (1450–1650 AD) was drier than the late LIA (1650–1800 AD). Increased solar irradiance and enhanced El Niño activities are related to the warm and humid climate during the MWP and PWP, whereas reduced solar irradiance and La Niña activities correspond to the cool and dry climate during the LIA. The present results provide insights into paleoclimatic changes in eastern monsoonal China and provide an understanding of centennial-scale climatic fluctuations and their driving factors.

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