LIA

LIA

by Winnie Lin -
Number of replies: 0
  • The Little Ice Age was a period of wide-spread cooling that coincided with extreme human struggles. The climate change during this time impacted humans agriculturally, physically, and mentally. As we discussed last week, scholars have characterized the relationship between humans and the environment or overall climate as one-sided, where climate greatly determines human temperament and behavior. The Little Ice Age is a partial testament to that idea, as the cooling had an effect on the physical environment, which humans relied on partly in order to survive, and therefore reacted in response to the issues that arose. Frigid temperatures caused crop loss, which caused famines, placing pressure on humans, instigating treacherous riots, fear, and discontent. We humans are clearly affected by the physical environment around them, and will in turn shift our interactions with the physical environment. Tapiador and Navarro argue that human-physical models are necessary to fully understand our impact on the environment in the future, and the Little Ice Age serves as an example of how important that interaction is for both parties. The sociosphere, as described by Mauelschagen, plays a role here as it represents the part of the Earth that is changed by humans. The sociosphere in the Little Ice Age would consist of all the things that people did during that time to their environment. We culturally changed the world through revolutions, changes in thinking about nature and science, and by continuing to live and use the world around us to survive, despite how grim it was. The Little Ice Age can be seen as a tool to represent the extremities of nature, how human societies change due to climate change, and how nature is ultimately impacted by its inhabitants as well.