Little Ice Age Intensifies Across the Northern Hemisphere

Beginning around 1300 CE, the Little Ice Age brought regional cooling to the Northern Hemisphere, with mean annual temperatures declining approximately 0.6°C. Alpine glaciers advanced across Europe, Greenland Norse colonies collapsed, and shortened growing seasons produced crop failures and famines. The Great Famine of 1315–1317 killed millions across northern Europe. Proposed causes include reduced solar activity, volcanic aerosol forcing, and ocean circulation shifts. Historians have linked the period to the Black Death, witch trials, bread riots, and conditions contributing to the French Revolution. The cooling persisted until approximately 1850.