What Was The Little Ice Age

The Great Famine of 1315 may have been thought to be caused solely by crop failure, but to an extent it was caused largely by a cooler climate change. The Little Ice Age that began in the fourteenth century and lasted until the nineteenth had seen cold, stormy winters and a slightly cooler climate even during the summer months. Before the temperature drop was a Climate Optimum, known as the Medieval Warm Period, which caused massive growth in population and agriculture. These improvements were highly juxtaposed in the next century with the Little Ice Age, which was most likely catalyzed because of the excess melted glacier water which had caused the Oceanic Conveyor Belt to stop and alter the transportation of warmer water towards places such as Europe. Although the exact cause is not certain, there are several theories to why the temperatures dropped only a few degrees and changed everything. The Little Ice Age was what had ultimately sparked the hunger, disease, and devastation in European society of the fourteenth century’s Great Famine.
The ultimate factor to growing plentiful crops was a perfect climate. The Little Ice Age had caused heavy rain that had washed away recently planted crops . Farmers mainly grew cereal grains such as wheat and corn, which are delicate and can easily be damaged. The choice in crops during the previous century had a large effect on history even beyond the Great Famine. These plants were successful during the Medieval Warm Period, which had pleasant conditions and were not so harsh on the crops or soil. Therefore when it was constantly raining during the Great Famine, the grains were very susceptible to breaking off and got ruined by wet, moist soil. The lack of food was what had led to other harsh conditions during the