Agricultural pressures of the Little Ice Age

Timeline

1. c. 1300–1400The Alps and Northern Europe · ScandinaviaGlacier advance, longer river freeze-up, and abandonment of high-altitude farmland showed that usable land and growing seasons were shrinking; grain yields fluctuated more, laying the groundwork for later famines.
2. 1391–1400England and the Baltic coast · England–BalticRepeated cold summers and heavy rains in this decade caused wheat and oat crop failures; combined with slow post-plague population recovery and wartime taxation, grain prices rose and triggered local riots and social protests.
3. 1500–1700Northern China and the European lowlands · North China PlainFarmers shifted to hardier crops, expanded fallow and fishing, and pastures and vineyards moved southward; some regimes strengthened granaries and relief to soften the periodic blows of climate fluctuation on agriculture.
4. c. 1800–1850Temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere · temperate agricultural beltRising temperatures around the mid-19th century and improvements in agricultural technology gradually eased Little Ice Age agricultural pressures, but the land use and social memory formed over centuries still influence later climate history research.