Human response to climate change - The Global Climate System: Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections - page 258

erosion with limited recovery, plus demands from an increasing population, meant
not enough food for everyone. The availability of seals as an alternative source of
food andmaterial, more important as the transitional periodwore on, became highly
erratic. Sealing becamemore dangerous, and therewas increasing competition from
the native Inuits, who were moving south as the climate became worse.
The stormier conditions and increased icebergs interfered with transatlantic
trade. As McGovern ( 1991 ) states, succinctly, ''...icebergs are bad for ships.''
The ships lost could not be replaced because there was no wood available. Nor
could the increasing numbers of men lost, both at sea and on the Arctic summer
hunts. Vail ( 1998 ) states that by this time the markets in Norway had begun to
look south for goods, and the shipments from Greenland were not as profitable.
Church doctrine may also have interfered with trade from Greenland.
How did the Greenland society structure respond to the threats to agriculture,
the loss of trade income, and from the harsher climatic conditions? The rigid
structure tried to maintain the status quo, and was unable to adjust to the change
in environmental conditions. The tenants were the first to lose their tenuous
lifestyle. Always marginal at best, the holdings did not survive the winters, and
both animals and the population died. Without the income from the tenants, the
landholders suffered, and without the income from both, the church lost its
support, despite by this time controlling two-thirds of the best land in the
colonies. The increasing loss of farmland through wind and water erosion, the
changing economics of trade, and the increase in loss of men and boats all
contributed to the demise of the colonies. The reduced interaction with Norway
and Iceland also enhanced deterioration. The society could not adjust to the
worsening conditions. The western settlement was lost around 1343, and by
the middle of the fifteenth century, there was no more contact between the
Greenland settlements and the outside world.
8.3 Climate change and adaptation in Europe
during the Little Ice Age
This section focuses on climate variability and societal adaptation in Europe
during the fourteenth century transition from MWP toward LIA, and during the
seventeenth century, when the LIA was at its strongest. Information from a
combination of proxy, economic and written data creates a picture of societal
change and the role of climate (Pfister et al. 1996 , and others).
8.3.1 The fourteeth century
Climate change and variability
Figure 8.4a provides details of fourteenth century isotope ratios from a GISP2
ice core in Greenland, a reasonable representation of the climate variability
in Europe (Ogilvie et al. 2000 ). Figure 8.4b depicts the frequency of cold or