This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: For roughly five centuries from about 1300, Europe experienced periods of unusually cold weather and extreme conditions collectively known as the Little Ice Age. Transylvania, a historical region in modern-day Romania, was also affected, but information about just how severe things were had been scattered in old town records, church logs, travelogs and administrative and monastic diaries.
In a study published in PLOS Climate, researchers detail how they pored over hundreds of centuries-old pages to see if they could piece together climate details for the 17th century. This period was already known as one of the coldest intervals of the Little Ice Age. The team, led by Ovidiu Răzvan Gaceu at the University of Oradea, Romania, collected 937 written accounts from 68 localities in Transylvania.
As they read, they divided the information into several categories. These were explicit mentions of weather; indirect markers including delayed crop ripening and frozen rivers; and impacts such as references to ruined crops and spikes in food prices. Next, the study authors had to verify whether the written records were accurate.
When historical documents mention cold or bad weather, researchers can't automatically assume the writer was being 100% accurate or objective. After all, people can exaggerate or misremember. To filter out potentially incorrect information, two researchers evaluated each account, keeping only events confirmed by multiple sources.
They also compared their findings with physical evidence from cave ice and tree rings. "Historical documentary evidence illustrates not only the occurrence of climatic anomalies but also how communities perceived, experienced and responded to environmental stress," the team wrote. The records identified 55 exceptionally harsh winters during the 17th century, with 36 occurring between 1645 and 1700.
But there was some respite from the plummeting temperatures, and residents still occasionally experienced hot summers and mild winters. Looking at specific weather patterns, excessive rainfall and other unusually wet conditions were reported far more often than droughts, though droughts occurred as well. And what was the impact of the climate extremes?
Extract — continue reading at the source.
