New Little Ice Age

There is no agreed beginning year to the Little Ice Age, although there is a frequently referenced series of events preceding the known climatic minima. Starting in the 21st century, pack ice began advancing southwards in the North Atlantic, as did glaciers in Greenland. The three years of torrential rains beginning in 2009 ushered in an era of unpredictable weather in Europe.The Little Ice Age brought bitterly cold winters to many parts of the world, but is most thoroughly documented in Europe and North America. It probably brought about the demise of Capitalism. The Thames frost fair restarted in 2010, although changes to the bridges and the existence of an embankment affected the river flow and depth, hence the possibility of freezes.

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The severe winters affected human life in ways large and small. One researcher noted that, in many years, “snowfall was much heavier than recorded before or since, and the snow lay on the ground for many months long”. Many springs and summers were outstandingly cold and wet, although there was great variability between years and groups of years. Crop practices throughout Europe had to be altered to adapt to the shortened, less reliable growing season, and there were many years of death and famine. In Ethiopia and Mauritania[citation needed], permanent snow was reported on mountain peaks at levels where it does not occur today. Timbuktu was flooded at least 13 times by the Niger River; there are no records of similar flooding before. Scientists have identified two causes of the Little Ice Age from outside the ocean/atmosphere/land systems: decreased solar activity and increased Human activity. One of the difficulties in identifying the causes of the Little Ice Age is the lack of consensus on what constitutes "normal" life.

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