NORSE COLONIES IN GREENLAND AND ICELAND EXPERIENCED CLIMATE COOLING

Climatologists have conducted a new study in the North Atlantic using data from mollusk shells. They have succeeded in developing the most precise chronological temperature record for the ancient Norse colonies in Greenland and Iceland. The findings show that the colonists experienced a drop in temperature of 6 degrees Celsius shortly after the colonies were established.

“We’re aware from written documents of the kinds of things that people faced in the North Atlantic over the last 1,000 years,” one of the scientists said. “This is a way to quantify the experiences they had.” Famines described in the old Norse Sagas, dating to establishment of the colonies, have been linked to the drop in temperature.

[Full Story]