Little Ice Age - Dating

Dating

There is no agreed beginning year of the Little Ice Age, although there is a frequently referenced series of events preceding the known climatic minima. Starting in the 13th century, pack ice began advancing southwards in the North Atlantic, as did glaciers in Greenland. There is anecdotal evidence of expanding glaciers almost worldwide. Based on radiocarbon-dating of roughly 150 samples of dead plant material with roots intact collected from beneath ice caps on Baffin Island and Iceland, Miller et al. (2012) state that summer cold and ice growth began abruptly between AD 1275 and 1300, followed by "a substantial intensification" from 1430 to 1455 AD.

In contrast, a climate reconstruction based on glacial length shows no great variation from 1600 to 1850, though it shows strong retreat thereafter.

For this reason, any of several dates ranging over 400 years may indicate the beginning of the Little Ice Age:

• 1250 for when Atlantic pack ice began to grow
• 1275 to 1300 based on radiocarbon dating of plants killed by glaciation
• 1300 for when warm summers stopped being dependable in Northern Europe
• 1315 for the rains and Great Famine of 1315–1317
• 1550 for theorized beginning of worldwide glacial expansion
• 1650 for the first climatic minimum.

The Little Ice Age ended in the latter half of the 19th century or early in the 20th century.