The Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age, the most significant climatic event of the last millennium, was sandwiched between two warm spells—the Medieval Warm period, which lasted from about A.D. 900 to 1300, and the present global warming, which began in about 1850. Brian Fagan draws on a new generation of fascinating climatic research to show how the balmy weather of the Medieval Warm Period made Iceland, then Greenland, attractive colonies for Norse expansion. Colder centuries ultimately led to the abandonment of Greenland, but colder ocean currents also forced vast shoals of cod, a staple food throughout Europe, into the western Atlantic Ocean. English, French, and other ships exploited the great Newfoundland cod fishery for centuries, making many temporary and more permanent landings in North America before the Pilgrims came to New England to praise “God and to fish.”         Storms, cold, and rain meant more crops failures for Europeans already living a marginal existence. Until recently, it took nine out of every ten workers in Europe just to grow enough to eat—and the deteriorating climate put their world under severe stress. Fagan tells the story of the agricultural revolution that was a prelude to the Industrial Revolution that alleviated the food crisis. This included cultivation of the potato, an American import that sustained the Irish for two centuries before blight brought the worst famine Ireland had ever known.         The Little Ice Age views history through the lens of climate, including such diverse events as the French Revolution, the Spanish Armada, and volcanic eruptions in South America. The story brings together a huge range of sources, from the dates of long-ago wine harvests and the business records of 14th century monasteries to the latest chemical analyses of ice cores. This unusual historical synthesis will fascinate anyone interested in history, climate and weather, and how the three interact.     Amazon     Barnes and Noble     Borders