During the Xiaoice Age, prolonged low temperatures caused crops in the Northern Hemisphere to fail crops and rivers to freeze – as shown in the Scheldt River outside Antwerp, Belgium. This oil painting was painted by Lucas van Valckenborch in 1593. Source: IncameraStock, Alamy Stock Photo
Words: Kieran Mulvaney
Thousands of people walk or have fun on the frozen ice of the River Thames. Soldiers on horseback captured the ship frozen in the sea. The aborigines outwitted the British invaders with snowshoes. The witch was tried on charges and made a scapegoat for poor food harvests and extreme cold.
These scenes are part of the "Xiaoice Age" picture. This was a centuries-long period in the last millennium, when parts of the Northern Hemisphere experienced prolonged bitter cold. However, what caused the "Xiaoice period"? How many years has it lasted, and how have people adapted to its biting infestation? And what can we learn from this to cope with the climate change we are experiencing?
What is the "Xiaoice Age" and what causes it
The Xiaoice period is not a real ice age, and the average cooling range is only about 05 degrees Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit), and it's not cold all the time. Dagomar Degroot, an associate professor of environmental history at Georgetown University and author of The Frigid Golden Age, calls this period a series of "tiny, tiny ice ages."
While some researchers argue that it began earlier, NASA defines the Xiaoice Age as having begun around 1550 and experienced three cold peaks — around 1650, 1770 and 1850 , interspersed with relatively warm intervals.
At the same time, scientists are still studying the exact factors that caused the Xiaoice Age. Theories range from waning solar activity to increased volcanic eruptions to the genocide of Native Americans in North America, an event that caused forests to replace agricultural land, removing nearly 7 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere in the process. A 2022 study argues that, counterintuitively, the initial trigger was the extremely warm water that poured into the north from the tropics in the 14th century, which washed Arctic ice into the North Atlantic.
The impact is widespread
Whatever the cause of the Xiaoice Age, its results have left ripples in history, although the extent of the impact remains controversial.
Needless to say, it was the cold climate that allowed King Charles X Gust** of Sweden to march across the frozen strait and occupy the Danish island of Funen in 1658; It was also this climate that made it possible for the French to capture the Dutch fleet, which froze in the sea in 1795, in what has been described as the first time in history that a cavalry had captured a fleet. The successive crop failures sparked fear and anxiety, and led to a wave of "witch trials" and anti-Semitism in Europe.
Less conclusive is the impact of the Xiaoice Age on the fall of the Ming Dynasty in Chinese history. Part of the reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty was a peasant revolt caused by food shortages. Falling temperatures and the simultaneous expansion of the ice sheets on land and sea may have contributed to the disappearance of Norwegian colonists in Greenland. There are even hypotheses that the unique sound of the Stradivari violins is due to the fact that Antonio Stradivari used a material of wood that was denser due to the cold.
In addition to the enormous waves that may have been stirred up in history, the Xiaoice Age had a particularly severe impact on farmers and the urban poor. In The Xiaoice Little Ice Age, writer Brian Fagan writes: "The villagers of the Alps live on bread made from crushed nut shells, barley and oat flour. A 1648 account records "the cries and tears of the poor, who said they were dying of hunger." ”
The situation was particularly harsh in parts of the 17th century and in the early 18th century. In the late 17th century, several European countries experienced severe famines; According to Ariel Hessayon of Goldsmiths in London, the winter of 1684 was so difficult that King Charles II of England approved a charity fundraiser, in which the king himself participated. This allowed Britain to survive the winter more smoothly than some of its neighbours. Even so, Hesayan wrote, "the earth is devastated, not from humans, from birds, from fish, from animals." The funeral was put on hold because the ground was too hard to dig up. The trunk of the tree cracked through it, and the vegetation withered. ”
Acclimatization to the cold
It's worth noting that some people have found ways to adapt to the dilemma. In London, the River Thames froze several times due to cold weather, and frost markets sprung up. People play soccer on the ice, fight dogs and bears, or participate in archery competitions. Stalls are set up to sell a variety of goods such as hot cocoa and pies.
The freezing of the Thames was a disaster for London's boatmen, who "mainly provided water bus services along the river." Hesayan explained in an interview. In response to the crisis, he said, the boatmen took full advantage of the frost bazaars to create alternative income streams: "They adapted to the situation because on the ice they could run their shops and on the frozen Thames they didn't have to pay for their shop.
At the same time, in the home of present-day California, in the face of greater climate change in the century, the Mojave "developed a significantly decentralized** culture." DeGroot said. To transport goods over long distances, they also invented resilient baskets, pottery and other containers, "so that when one area is undernourished, they can make up for it by being in other areas." ”
The Mojave's response to climate change is also present thousands of kilometres away in the Dutch Republic. The country actually experienced a period of "** years" during the worst years of the Xiaoice crisis – much of this was achieved by developing resilient, diverse ** infrastructure, De Groot explained.
They can transport goods from many different regions – most importantly, grain from different ports in the Baltic States. He said. So when extreme weather brings a shortage of grain, "the Dutch can actually make the most of this access and import from the grain-growing areas." ”
In New England, the Wabanaki tribe took advantage of the cold and snowy winter to raid the British colonists – until the early 18th century, when the invaders mastered the techniques and expertise of the Aboriginal people and sent hundreds of "snowshoeers" to the Wabanaki hunting grounds.
Learn from the past
One thing is surprising, DeGroot said: in the Arctic whaling grounds, commerce has developed, while conflicts have decreased. "As the weather gets colder and the ice expands, resources become more closely distributed and more accessible," he explains. The result, he continued, is that the armed conflict, which characterizes the Arctic whaling industry, has actually weakened.
DeGroot said the historical Xiaoice may have something to learn from modern climate change observers. He added: "In today's world-class context, the discussion of the Arctic is completely opposite to the reality of the Arctic during the Xiaoice Age. It is often assumed that when the Arctic melts, there will be increased regional conflict and competition. ”
Despite the significant effects of the Xiaoice Age, de Groot notes that the temperature was smaller than the amount of warming we are experiencing. This makes understanding the Xiaoice period and how people adapted to it all the more important today, Hesayan argues.
There is a vast and valuable material to learn from history, allowing us to learn about the past and hopefully gain inspiration to deal with the crises of the present. He explained.
Translator: Green Wine).