Eruptions Caused Little Ice Age

Scientists say that a series of volcanic eruptions in the tropics in the late 13th century brought about the Little Ice Age, a period of several hundred years during which mountain glaciers expanded and global temperatures dropped. Carbon dating of plants trapped in icecaps in Canada and Iceland and analysis of sediment in an Icelandic glacier revealed that there were likely four large volcanic eruptions beginning in 1256 and that cooling began at around that same time. Though the particles released by volcanic eruptions generally only cool the planet for a few years, the resultant growth of ice sheets and glaciers around the Arctic Ocean extended the cold period for centuries. More...