Skip to main content

"Little Ice Age" Research: A Perspective from Iceland

Climatic Change volume 48, pages 9–52 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The development during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of the sciences of meteorology and climatology and their subdisciplines has made possible an ever-increasing understanding of the climate of the past. In particular, the refinement of palaeoclimatic proxy data has meant that the climate of the past thousand years has begun to be extensively studied. In the context of this research, it has often been suggested that a warm epoch occurred in much of northern Europe, the north Atlantic, and other parts of the world, from around the ninth through the fourteenth centuries, and that this was followed by a decline in temperatures culminating in a "Little Ice Age" from about 1550 to 1850 (see e.g. Lamb, 1965, 1977; Flohn, 1978). The appelations "Medieval Warm Period" and "Little Ice Age" have entered the literature and are frequently used without clear definition. More recently, however, these terms have come under closer scrutiny (see, e.g. Ogilvie, 1991, 1992; Bradley and Jones, 1992; Mikami, 1992; Briffa and Jones, 1993; Bradley and Jones, 1993; Hughes and Diaz, 1994; Jones et al., 1998; Mann et al., 1999; Crowley and Lowery, 2000). As research continues into climatic fluctuations over the last 1000 to 2000 years, a pattern is emerging which suggests a far more complex picture than early research into the history of climate suggested. In this paper, the origins of the term "Little Ice Age" are considered. Because of the emphasis on the North Atlantic in this volume, the prime focus is on research that has been undertaken in this region, with a perspective on the historiography of historical climatology in Iceland as well as on the twentieth-century climate of Iceland. The phrase "Little Ice Age" has become part of the scientific and popular thinking on the climate of the past thousand years. However, as knowledge of the climate of the Holocene continues to grow, the term now seems to cloud rather than clarify thinking on the climate of the past thousand years. It is hoped that the discussion here will encourage future researchers to focus their thinking on exactly and precisely what is meant when the term "Little Ice Age" is used.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Annálar 1400–1800, I–VII: 1922–1998, Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, Reykjavík.

  • Anonymous: 1917, ‘The King's Mirror’ (Speculum Regale — Konungs skuggsjá), translated by Larson, M., in Scandinavian Monographs 3, The American Scandinavian Foundation, New York

  • Barlow, L. K.: 1994, Evaluation of seasonal to decadal scale deuterium and deuterium excess signals, GISP2 ice core, Summit, Greenland, A.D. 1270–1985, Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.

  • Barlow, L. K.: 2001, ‘The Time Period AD 1400–1800 in Central Greenland Ice Cores in Relation to the North Atlantic Sector’, this volume.

  • Barlow, L. K., Sadler, J. P., Ogilvie, A. E. J., Buckland, P. C., Amorosi, T., Ingimundarson, J. H., Skidmore, P., Dugmore A. J., and McGovern, T. H.: 1997, ‘Interdisciplinary investigations of the end of the Norse Western Settlement in Greenland’, Holocene 7, 489–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartholin, T. S. and Karlén, W.: 1983, ‘Dendrokronologi i Lapland AD 436-1981’, Dendrokronologiska Sällskapet, Meddelanden 5, 3–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. E.: 1992, ‘Inferring past climate change from subsurface temperature profiles: some problems and methods’, Global and Planetery Change 6, 73–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, W. T. and Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1978, ‘Weather Compilations as a Source of Data for the Reconstruction of European Climate During the Medieval Period’, Climatic Change 1, 331–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beltrami, H. and Mareschal J.-C.: 1995, ‘Resolution of ground temperature histories inverted from borehole temperature data’, Global and Planetary Change 11, 57–70

    Google Scholar 

  • BergÞórsson, P.: 1967, ‘Kuldaskeið um 1300?’ (A cold period at 1300?), Veðrið 12, 55–58

    Google Scholar 

  • BergÞórsson, P.: 1969a, ‘An estimate of drift ice and temperature in Iceland in 1000 years’, Jökull 19, 95–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • BergÞórsson, P.: 1969b, ‘Hafís og hitastig á liðnum öldum’, (Sea ice and temperatures in earlier centuries) in Einarsson, M. Á. (ed.), Hafísinn, Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík 1969, pp. 333–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • BergÞórsson, P.: 1985, ‘Sensitivity of Icelandic Agriculture to Climatic Variations’, Climatic Change 7, 111–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • BergÞórsson, P.: 1997, Vínlandsgátan (The Vinland mystery), Mál og menning, Reyjavík.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond, G., Showers, W., Cheseby, M., Lotti, R., Almasi, P., deMenocal, P., Priore, P., Cullen, H., Hajdas, I., and Bonani, G.: 1997, ‘A pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and glacial climates’, Science 278, 1257–1266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. S. and Jones, P.D.: 1992, ‘Climatic variations over the last 500 years’, in Bradley, R. S. and Jones P. D. (eds), Climate since A.D. 1500, London, Routledge, pp. 649–665

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R. S. and Jones, P. D.: 1993, “Little Ice Age' summer temperature variations: their nature and relevance to recent global warming trends', Holocene 3 367–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briffa, K. R.: 2000, ‘Annual climate variability in the Holocene: interpreting the message of ancient trees’, Quarternary Science Reviews 19, 87–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Briffa, K. R., Bartholin, T. S., Eckstein, D., Jones, P. D., Karlén, W., Schweingruber, F. H., and Zetterberg, P.: 1990, ‘A 1,400-year tree-ring record of summer temperatures in Fennoscandia’, Nature 346, 434–439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briffa, K. R., Jones, P. D., Bartholin, T. S., Eckstein, D., Schweingruber, F. H., Karlén, W., and Zetterberg, P.: 1992, ‘Fennoscandian summers from AD 500: temperature changes on short and long timescales’, Climate Dynamics 7, 111–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briffa, K. R. and Jones, P. D.: 1993, ‘Global surface air temperature variations during the twentieth century: Part 2, Implications for large-scale high-frequency palaeoclimatic studies’, Holocene 3, 77–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briffa, K. R. and Jones, P. D.: 1994, ‘Summer temperatures across northern North America: Regional reconstructions from 1760 using tree-ring densities’, Journal of Geophysical Research 99, 25,835–25,844.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broecker, W., Sutherland, S., and Peng, T.-H.: 1999, ‘A possible 20th-century slowdown of Southern Ocean deep water formation’ Science 286, 1132–1135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckland, P. C. and Wagner, P. E.: 2001, ‘Is There an Insect Signal for the “Little Ice Age?’, this volume.

  • Bull, E.: 1915, ‘Islands klima i Oldtiden’ (Medieval Climate of Iceland), Geografisk Tidskrift 23, 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callendar, G. S.: 1938, ‘The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature’, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 64, 223–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cermák, V.: 1971, ‘Underground temperature and inferred climatic temperature of the past millennium’, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 10, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clow, G. D.: 1992, ‘The extent of temporal smearing in surface-temperature histories derived from borehole temperature measurements’, Global and Planetary Change 6, 81–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clow, G. D., Saltus, R. W., and Waddington, E. D.: 1996, ‘A new high-precision borehole-temperature logging system used at GISP2, Greenland, and Taylor Dome, Antarctica’, Journal of Glaciology 42, 576–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, T. J.: 2000, ‘Causes of climate changes over the past 1000 years’, Science 289, 270–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, T. J. and Lowery, T. S.: 2000, ‘How warm was the Medieval Warm Period?’, Ambio, 29, 51–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuffey, K. M. and Clow, G. D.: 1997, ‘Temperature, accumulation, and ice sheet elevation in central Greenland through the last deglacial transition’, Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 26383–26396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl-Jensen, D., Mosegaard, K., Gundestrup, N., Clow, G. D., Johnsen, S. J., Hansen, A. W., and Balling, N.: 1998, ‘Past temperatures directly from the Greenland ice sheet’, Science 282, 268–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W.: 1964, ‘Stable isotopes in precipitation’, Tellus 16, 436–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S. J., Reeh, N., Gundestrup, N., Clausen, H. B., and Hammer, C. U.: 1975, ‘Climatic changes, Norsemen and modern man’, Nature 225, 24–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doner, L. A.: 1999, ‘Late-Holocene paleoclimate records from northwest Iceland lake sediments’, Abstracts with programs, 31, Geological Society of America, 31st Annual Meeting, Denver, Oct. 25–28, 1999, p. A 315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doner, L. A. and Overpeck, J. T.: 1995, ‘Comparison of late-Holocene pollen records from Ogac lake with other Baffin Island records: is there a Little Ice Age signal?’, Abstracts, 25th International Arctic Workshop, 16–18 March, 1995, Universitë Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, pp. 30–31.

  • Ehrenheim, F. V. von: 1824, Om Climaternes rörlighet, Kongl. Vetenskaps Academien, Stockholm, 1824.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekholm, N.: 1899, ‘Om klimatets ändringar i geologisk och historisk tid samt deras orsaker’, Ymer 1899, 353–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • EyÞórsson, J.: 1926, ‘Um loftslagsbreytingar á Íslandi og Grænlandi síðan á landnámsöld’ (On climatic changes in Iceland and Greenland since settlement times), Skírnir 100, 113–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • EyÞórsson, J.: 1949, ‘Temperature variations in Iceland’ in Mannerfelt, C. M. (ed.), Glaciers and climate: geophysical and geomorphological essays dedicated to Hans W:son Ahlmann, Svenska sällskapet för antropologi och geografi, Stockholm, pp. 36–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • EyÞórsson, J.: 1950, ‘Hitafarsbreytingar á Íslandi’ (Temperature variations in Iceland), Náttúrufrœðingurinn, 20, 67–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • EyÞórsson, J.: 1965, ‘Hafís og ísrek’ (Sea ice and sea-ice drift), Veðrið 10, 22–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • EyÞórsson, J.: 1966, ‘Mildir vetur á Íslandi’ (Mild winters in Iceland), Veðrið 11, 3–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finnsson, H.: 1796, ‘Um Mannfæckun af Hallærum á Íslandi’ (Depopulation and Famine in Iceland), Rit Lœrdómslistafélags 14, 30–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finnsson, H.: 1970, Mannfœkkun af hallœrum, EyÞórsson, J. and Nordal, J. (eds), (A second annotated ed. of Finnsson (1796)), Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík

    Google Scholar 

  • Flohn, H.: 1978, ‘Die Zukunft unseres Klimas: Fakten und Probleme’, Promet 8, 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flohn, H. and Fantechi, R. (eds): 1984, The climate of Europe: Past, present and future, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Boston, Lancaster

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedmann, A., Moore, J. C., Thorsteinsson, Th., Kipfstuhl, J., and Fischer, H.: 1995, ‘A 1200 year record of accumulation from northern Greenland’, Annals of Glaciology 21, 19–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geirsdóttir, Á., Harðardóttir, J., and Andrews, J. T.: 2000, ‘Late-Holocene terrestrial glacial history of Miki and I. C. Jacobsen Fjords, East Greenland’, Holocene 10, 123–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, A. T., 2001, ‘The “Little Ice Age” and its Geomorphological Consequences in Mediterrcan Europe’, this volume.

  • Grove, J. M.: 1988, The Little Ice Age, Methuen, London and New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, J. M.: 1996, ‘Little Ice Ages’, an entry in Schneider, S. (ed.): Encyclopedia of climate and weather vol. 2, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 1996, pp. 475–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, J. M.: 2001, ‘The Initiation of the “Little Ice Age” in Regions around the North Atlantic’, this volume.

  • Grove, J. M. and Switzur, R.: 1994, ‘Glacial Geological Evidence for the Medieval Warm Period’, Climatic Change 26, 143–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guðmundsson, H. J.: 1997, ‘A review of the Holocene environmental history of Iceland’, Quaternary Science Reviews 16, 81–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harðardóttir, J., Geirsdóttir, Á., and Thórdarson, Th.: in press, ‘Tephra layers in a sediment core from Lake Hestvatn, S-Iceland: implications for evaluating sedimentation processes and environmental impact of tephra fall deposits in th surrounding watershed’, in White, J. and Riggs, N., (eds), Sedimentologists (IAS) Special Publication, Blackwell, Oxford.

  • Hildebrandsson, H. H.: 1915, ‘Sur le prédendu changement du climat Européen en temps historique’, Nova acta regiae societatis scientarium upsaliensis, Ser. IV, vol. 4,N. 5.

  • Houghton, J. T., Meira Filho, L. G., Callander, B. A., Harris, N., Kattenberg, A., and Maskell, K. (eds): 1996, Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyle, F., Godwin, H., Manley, G., and Brooks, C. E. P.: 1949, ‘Discussions — Post-glacial climatic change’, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 75, 161–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, S., Shen, P. Y., and Pollack, H. N.: 1996, ‘Deriving century-long trends of surface temperature change from borehole temperatures’, Geophysical Research Letters 23, 257–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, S., Pollack, H. N., and Shen, P.: 2000, ‘Temperature trends over the past five centuries reconstructed from borehole temperatures’, Nature 403, 756–758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughen, K. A., Overpeck, J. T., and Anderson, R. F.: 2000, ‘Recent warming in a 500-year paleotemperature record from varved sediments of Upper Soper Lake, Baffin Island’, Holocene 10, 9–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, M. K., and Diaz, H. F.: 1994, ‘Was there a “Medieval Warm Period”, and if so, Where and When?’, Climatic Change 26, 109–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobcit, J., Jönsson, P., Bärring, L., Beck, C., and Ekström, M.: 2001, ‘Zonal Indices for Europe 1780–1995 and Correlation with Temperature’, this volume.

  • Jacoby, G. C., Workman, K. W., and D'Arrigo, R. D.: 1999, ‘Laki eruption of 1783, tree rings and disaster for northwest Alaska Inuit’, Quaternary Science Reviews 18, 1365–1371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, A. E. and Weiner, N. J.: 1996, ‘Environmental change in eastern Greenland during the last 1300 years: evidence from foraminifera and lithofacies in Nasen Fjord, 68°N’, Holocene 6, 179–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, A. E., Hagen, S., Harðardóttir, J., Stein, R., Ogilvie, A. E. J., and Jónsdóttir, I.: 2001, ‘Oceanographic Change and Terrestrial Human Impacts in a Post AD 1400 Sediment Record from the Southwest Iceland Shelf’, this volume.

  • Johnsen, S. J., Dansgaard, W. D., and White, J. W. C.: 1989, ‘The origin of Arctic precipitation under present and glacial conditions’, Tellus 41B, 452–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. D., Briffa, K. R., Barnett, T. P., and Tett, S. F. B.: 1998, ‘High-resolution palaeoclimatic records for the last millennium: interpretation, integration and comparison with general circulation model control-run temperatures’, Holocene 8, 455–471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. D., New, M., Parker, D. E., Martin, S., and Rigor, I. G.: 1999, ‘Surface air temperature and its changes over the past 150 Years’, Reviews of Geophysics 37, 173–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, P. D., Ogilvie, A. E. J., Davies, T. D., and Briffa, K. R.: 2001, ‘Climate and climate impacts: the last 1000 years: developments in research’, in Jones, P. D., Ogilvie, A. E. J., Davies, T. D. and Briffa, K. R. (eds), Climate and climate impacts: the last 1000 years, Kluwer Academic/Penum Publishing, in press.

  • Jónsdóttir, I. and Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1997, ‘Sea ice off the coasts of Iceland in historical times’, in Lewkowicz A. G. and Kokel, S. V. (eds) Program and Abstracts, 27th Arctic Workshop, 27 February–2 March, 1997. University of Ottawa, Canada, pp. 124–125.

  • Jönsson, P. and Holmquist, B.: 1995, ‘Wind direction in southern Sweden 1740–1992: Variation and correlation with temperature and zonality’, Theoretical and Applied Climatology 51, 183–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jönsson, P.: 1998, ‘Meteorological observations from Lund, southern Sweden, since 1740: wind direction’, in Frenzel, B. (ed). Documentary Climatic Evidence for 1750–1850 and the 14th century. Paläoklimaforschung 23, Special Issue: ESF Project “European Palaeoclimate and Man” 15, European Science Foundtion, Strasbourg, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, pp. 121–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jónsson, T.: 1989, Afturábak frá Stykkishólmi: Veðurathuganir Jóns Porsteinssonar landlœknis í Nesi og í Reykjavík (The observations of Jón Thorsteinsson in Nes and Reykjavík 1820–1854, and their relation to the Stykkishólmur series), Icelandic Meteorological Office report, Reykijavík.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jónsson, T.: 1998, ‘Reconstructing the temperature in Iceland from early instrumental observations: data availability and a status report’, in Frenzel, B. (ed) Documentary Climatic Evidence for 1750–1850 and the 14th century, Paläoklimaforschung 23, Special Issue: ESF Project “European Palaeoclimate and Man” 15, European Science Foundation, Strabourg, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, pp. 87–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jónsson, T. and Garðarsson, H.: 2001, ‘Early Instrumental Meteorological Observations in Iceland’, this volume.

  • Jónsson, T. and Ogilvie A. E. J.: in preparation, ‘Temperature variations in Iceland 1775–2000’.

  • Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Leetmaa, A., Reynolds, R., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Jenne, R., and Joseph, D.: 1996, ‘NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project’, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 77, 437–471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karlén, W.: 1982, ‘Holocene glacier fluctuations in Scandinavia’, in Holocene Glaciers (ed.) Karlén, W., Striae, (Special issue), Uppsala 18, 26–34.

  • Keeling, C. D. and Whorf, T. P.: 2000, ‘The 1800-year oceanic tidal cycle: a possible cause of rapid climate change’, PNAS 97, 3814–3819.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkbride, M. P. and Dugmore, A. J.: 2001, ‘Can Lichenometry be used to date the “Little Ice Age” Glacial Maximum in Iceland?’, this volume.

  • Koch, L.: 1945, ‘The East Greenland Ice’, Meddelelser om Grønland 130(3), Koommisioen for Videnskabelige Undersøgelser i Grønland, Copenhagen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreutz, K. J., Mayewski, P. A., Meeker, L. D., Twickler, M. S., Whitlow, S. I., and Pittalwala, I. I.: 1997, ‘Bipolar changes in atmospheric circulation during the Little Ice Age’, Science 277, 1294–1296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristjánsdóttir, S.: 1998. ‘Sources of climatic information in the manuscript collection of the National Library in Iceland’, in The Second Climate and History Conference, 7–11 September, 1998, Abstract Volume, Climatic Research Unit, Nowich, UK, p. 60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, H. H.: 1965, ‘The early medieval warm epoch and its sequel’, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 1, 13–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, H. H.: 1977, ‘Climate: Present, Past and The Funter, Vol. 2, Climatic History and the Future’, Methuen, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landsberg, H. E.; 1985, ‘Historic weather data and early meteorological observations’, in Hecht, A.D. (ed.) Palaeoclimatic Analysis and Modelling, New York, Wiley, pp. 27–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehn, W. H. and Schroeder, I. S.: 1979, ‘Polar mirages as aids to Norse navigation’, Polarforschung 49, 173–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manlcy, G.; 1974, ‘Central England temperatures: monthly means 1659 to 1973’, Quart. J. R. Met. Soc. 100, 389–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. E.: 2000, ‘Lessons for a new millennium’, Science 289, 253–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. E., Bradley, R. S., and Hughes, M. K.: 1998, ‘Global-scale temperature patterns and climate forcing over the past six centuries,’, Nature 392, 779–787.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M. E., Bradley, R. S., and Hughes, M. K.: 1999, ‘Northern Hemisphere temperature during the past millennium: inferences, uncertainties and limitations’, Geophysical Research Letters 26, 759–763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthes, F. E., Reid. H. F., Hobbs, W. H., Church, J. E., Martin, L., Osgood Field Jr., Wm, Trager, E. A., Parker, G. L., Kehrlein, O., Phillips, K. N., Cooper, W. S., FitzGerald, G., and Gould, L. M.: 1939, ‘Report of committee on glaciers, April 1939’, Transactions, AGU 20, 518–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayewski, P. A., Mccker, L. D., Morrison, M. C., Twickler, M. S., Whitlow, S. I., Ferland, K. K., Meese, D. A., Legrand, M. R., and Steffensen, J. P.: 1993, ‘Greenland ice core “signal” characteristics: an expanded view of climatic change’, Journal of Geophysical Research 98 D 12839–12847.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikami, T. (ed.): 1992, Proceedings of the International symposium on the Little Ice Age climate. Tokyo, Japan 1991, Editorial Committee of LIAC Proceedings, Department of Geography, Tokyo Metropolitan University.

  • Moberg, A. and Bergström H.: 1997, ‘Homogenization of Swedish temperature data. Part III: The long temperature records from Stockholm and Uppsala’, International Journal of Climatology 17, 667–699.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanscn, F.: 1925, ‘Klimat-vekslinger i Nordens Historie’, Avhandliner utgitt av Det norske viden-skaps-akademi, 1. Matematisk-naturvidneskapelig klasse 1925 3, 1–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nansen, F.: 1967, Hjá selum og hvítabjörnum (Icelandic translation of Nansen, F.: 1924, ‘Blandt sel og björn’), Ísafoldarprenstmiðja, Reykjavík.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordli, P. Ø.: 2001, ‘Reconstruction of Norwegian Nineteenth Century Summer Temperatures by Proxy Data from Farmer's Diaries’, this volume.

  • Norlind, A.: 1915, ‘Till frågan om det historiska klimatet, särskilt i Nord-och Mellaneuropa’, Ymer 1915, 83–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1982, Climate and society in Iceland from the medieval period to the late eighteenth century, A doctoral dissertation, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1984 ‘The Past Climate and Sea-ice Record from Iceland. Part 1: Data to A. D. 1780’, Climatic Change 6, 131–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J., 1986: ‘The climate of Icceland, 1701–1784’, Jökull 36, 57–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1991, ‘Climatic changes in Iceland A. D. c. 865 to 1598’, in The Norse of the North Atlantic (Presented by Bigelow, G. F.), Acta Archaeologica 61 1990, 233–251.

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1992, ‘Documentary evidence for changes in the climate of Iceland, A. D. 1500 to 1800’, in Bradley, R. S. and Jones, P. D. (eds), Climate Since A.D. 1500, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 92–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1993, ‘The climate of Scandinavia in medieval times’, in Pulsiano, P., and Wolf, K. with Acker, P. and Fry, D. K. (eds), Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, Garland Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, Garland Publishing, New York and London, pp. 94–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1996, ‘Sea-ice conditions off the coasts of Iceland A.D. 1601–1850 with special reference to part of the Maunder Minimum period (1675–1717)’, AmS-Varia 25, Archaeological Muscum of Stavanger, Norway, 9–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 1998, ‘Historical accounts of weather events and related matters in Iceland and Greenland, A.D. c. 1250 to 1430’, in Frenzel, B. (ed.), Documentary Climatic Evidence for 1750–1850 and the 14th century, Paläoklimaforschung 23, Special Issues: ESF Project “European Palaeoclimate and Man” 15, European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literature, Mainz, pp. 25–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J.: 2000, ‘Climate and farming in northern Iceland, ca. 1700–1850’, in Sigurðsson, I. and Skaptason, J. (eds), Aspects of Arctic and Sub-Arctic History. Proceedings of the International Congress on the History of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic Region, Reykijavík 18–21 June 1998, University of Iceland Press, Reykjavík, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J. and Farmer, G.: 1997, ‘Documenting the medieval climate’, in Hulme, M. and Barrow, E. (eds), Cimates of the British Isles, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 112–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie, A. E. J., Barlow, L. K., and Jennings, A. E.: 2000, ‘North Atlantic climate c. A.D. 1000: Millennial reflections on the Viking discoveries of Iceland, Greenland and North American’, Weather 55, 34–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ólafsson, B. (1967) ‘Harðindaárin 1751–1757’ (The dearth years 1751–1757), Unpublished dissertation, University of Iceland, Reykjavík.

  • Overpeck, J., Hughen, K., Hardy, D., Bradley, R., Case, R., Douglas, M., Finney, B., Gajewski, K., Jacoby, G., Jennings, A., Lamoureux, S., Lasca, A., MacDonald, G., Moore, J., Retelle, M., Smith, S., Wolfe, A., and Zielinski, G.: 1997, ‘Arctic environmental change of the last four centuries’, Science 278, 1251–1256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettersson, O.: 1913, ‘Klimatförändringar i historisk och förhistorisk tid’, Kungl. Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 51,No. 2

  • Pettersson, O.: 1914, ‘Climatic variations in historic and prehistoric time’, Svenska Hydrografisk-Biologiska Kommissionens Krifter 5, 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, C. Lutterbacher, J., Schwarz-Zanetti, G., and Wegmann, M.: 1998, ‘Winter air temperature variations in western Europe during the early and middle Ages (AD 750–1300)’, Holocene 8, 535–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, S. C.: 1981, ‘Glaciological evidence of Holocene climatic change’, in Wigley, T. M. L., Ingram, M. J. and Farmer, G. (eds), Climate and History. Studies in past climates and their impact on Man, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 82–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, S. C.: 1986, ‘Pattern and forcing of northern hemisphere glacier variations during the last millennium’, Quartenary Research 26, 27–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sebagenzi, M. N., Vasseur, G., and Louis, P.; 1992, ‘Recent warming in southeastern Zaire (Central Africa) inferred from disturbed geothermal gradients’, Global and Planetary Change 6, 209–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selsing, L.: 1998, ‘Interdiscipinary palaeoclimatic research at the Museum of Archaeology, Stavanger, Norway’, in Frenzel, B. (ed.) Documentary Climatic Evidence for 1750–1850 and the 14th century. Paläoklimaforschung 23, Special Issues: ESF Project “European Palaeoclimate and Man” 15, European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, pp. 63–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, P. Y., Pollack, H. N., and Huang, S.: 1996, ‘Inference of ground surface temperature history from borehole temperature data: a comparison of two inverse methods’, Global and Planetary Change 14, 49–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, W. R. and Majorowicz, J. A.: 1999, ‘Regional climatic warming and associated twentieth century land-cover changes in north-western North America’, Climate Research 12, 39–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigfúsdóttir, A. B.: 1969, ‘Hitabreytingar á Íslandi 1846–1968’ (Temperature variations in Iceland 1846–1968), in Einarsson, M. Á. (ed.), Hafísinn (The Sea Ice), Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík, pp. 70–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speerschneider, C. I. H.: 1915, Om Isforholdene i danske Farvande i œldre og nyere Tid. Aarene 690–1860. Meddelelser Nr. 2, Publikationer fra det Danske Meteorol, Institut, Copenhagen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarand, A. and Nordli, P. Ø.: 2001, ‘The Tallinn Temperature Series Reconstructed back half a Millennium by use of Proxy Data’, this volume.

  • Thórarinsson, S.: 1943, ‘Oscillations of the Iceland glaciers in the last 250 Years’, Chapter XI in Vatnajökull, Scientific results of the Swedish-Icelandic investigations 1936–37–38. Geografiska Annaler 1–2, 1–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thórarinsson, S.: 1956a, ‘The thousand years struggle’, in Thórarinsson, S. The Thousand Years Struggle Against Ice and Fire, Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs, Reykjavík 5–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thórarinsson, S.: 1996b, ‘Ísland þjóðveldistímans og menning í ljósi landfræðilegra staðreynda’ (The Icelandic commonwealth and culture in the light of geographica facts), Skírnir 130, 236–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thórarinsson, S.: 1974, ‘Sambúð lands og lýðs í ellefu aldir’ (The coexistence of country and people through eleven hundred years), in Líndal, S., (ed.), Saga Íslands, I. bindi, Hið, íslenska bókmenntafélag, Sögufélagið, Reykijavík, pp. 29–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen, Þ.: 1982–1904, Landfrœðissaga íSlands. Hugmyndir manna um Ísland, náttúruskoðun og rannsóknir fyrr og síðar I–IV (The Historiography of the natural sciences in Iceland), Hið Íslenska bókmenntafélag, Reykijavík 1892–1896, Copenhagen 1898–1904.

  • Thoroddsen, Þ.: 1908–1922, Lýsing Íslands I–IV (A descrption of Iceland), Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, Copenhagen 1908–1922.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen, Þ.: 1914, ‘Islands Klima i Oldtiden’, Geografisk Tidskrift 22, 204–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen, Þ.: 1916–1917, Árferði á Íslandi í þúsund ár (The climate of Iceland through one thousand year), Hið íslenska fræðafélag, Copenhagen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoroddsen, Þ.: 1922–1923, Minningabók (Memoris), Hið íslenska fræðafélag, Copenhagen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasey, D. E.: 2001, ‘A Quantitative Assessment of Buffers among Temperature Variations, Livestock and the Human Population of Iceland, 1784–1900’, this volume.

  • Vilmundarson, Þ.: 1969, ‘Heimildir um hafís á síðari öldum’ (Historical sources on sea ice during the early modern period), in Einarsson, M. Á. (ed.), Hafísinn, Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík, pp. 313–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilmundarson, Þ.: 1972, ‘Evaluation of historical sources on sea ice near Iceland’ in Karlsson (ed.), Sea Ice, Proceedings of an international conference, National Research Council, Reykjavík, pp. 159–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallevik, J. E. and Sigurjónsson, H.: 1998, The Koch index: Formulation, correction and extension VÍ-G98035-ÚR28, Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavík.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. W. C., Barlow, L. K., Fisher, D. Grootes, P., Jouzel, J., Johnsen, S. J., Stuiver, M., and Clausen, H.: 1997, ‘The climate signal in the stable isotopes of snow from Summit, Greenland: results of comparisons with modern climate observations’, Journal of Geophysical Research 102,C12, 26426–26439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wigley, T. M. L. and Raper, S. C. B.: 1995, ‘Modeling low-fequency climate variability: the green-house effect and the interpretation of paleoclimatic data’, in Martinson, K., Bryan, M., Ghil, M., Karl, T. R., Sarachik, E. S., Sorooshian, S., Talley, L. D. (eds), Natural ClimateVariability on Decade-to-CenturyTtime Scales. National Research Council, Washington, D. C., 169–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L. and Wigley, T. M. L.: 1983, ‘A comparison of evidence for Late Holocene summer temperature variations in the northern hemisphere’, Quarternary Research 20, 286–307.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0450, USA

    A.E.J. Ogilvie

  2. Icelandic Meteorological Office, Bústaðavegi 9, ÍS-150, Reykjavík, Iceland

    T. Jónsson

Authors
  1. A.E.J. Ogilvie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. Jónsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ogilvie, A., Jónsson, T. "Little Ice Age" Research: A Perspective from Iceland. Climatic Change 48, 9–52 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005625729889

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005625729889

  • Climate Variability
  • Historical Climatology
  • Iceland
  • "Little Ice Age"
  • "Medieval Warm Period"
  • Sea Ice