Changes

Soon after the fall of the Roman Empire and emergence of early European kingdoms and societies, the climate during this time mostly appeared to be colder and wetter than conditions today. Flooding in rivers seemed more intense during the 500-600s. Between 500-900 CE, glaciers were expanding in the Alps and other northerly regions of Europe such as Scandinavia. In northern Europe, agriculture was often on the margins, where crops can be grown in what today would be a typical year during the summer months. However, increased persistence of cloudy weather, a large amount of rain, and generally colder conditions could lead to increased crop failures during the summer months in the earliest phases of the Medieval period. This has led some scholars to believe at least some of the Norse and Dane movements, who we call the Vikings, that occurred by the 8th century occurred due to these cooler conditions. It simply became more difficult for agriculture to be successful in the northern regions of Europe, leading to increased dependence on raiding or settling new lands that were more productive. In fact, from the 8th to 9th centuries, Viking raids and eventual settlement became more intense, suggesting conditions may have become harsher leading to more bold movements. During this time, large waves of Vikings landed in Europe, including in France, Britain, and areas south of Denmark. Some Viking travelers went even further into Russia and Mediterranean regions, taking enormous risk but such risk may have been considered in light of the situation back in northern Europe.<ref>For more on the Viking and Norse movements and raids as a result of climatic events, see: Lieberman, B. D., & Gordon, E. (2018). <i>Climate change in human history: prehistory to the present</i>. London ; New York: Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. </ref>

Areas previously not inhabited significantly, such as Greenland, now became an area for long-lived Norse colonies during what was called the Medieval Warm Period. Famous Norse explorers such as Erik the Red in the late 10th century named Greenland as such because they wanted to convince others that it was a good area to settle. The warming climate made the story somewhat believable and enabled the Norse to settle different areas of Greenland(Figure 1). Climate studies have suggested conditions may have been warmer at this time than even modern conditions or perhaps conditions were similar. Erik the Red and his descendants, including Lief Leif Erikson, visited lands they called the the land of forests and land of wine, which could have been in reference to North America such as areas in Labrador and Newfoundland. The settlement of L'Anse aux Meadows, in Newfoundland, represents the clearest evidence of Norse settlement in North America. The Norse also began to trade with Native American groups such as the Beothuk and Thule. All of these long-distance travels in regions that have been frozen over in recent history suggest much warmer conditions made these travels possible or certainly easier. However, by around 1400 things seemed to have died out and settlements in Greenland and North America were abandoned by the Norse. Once again, conditions became cooler in the higher latitudes.<ref>For more on the Medieval Warm Period and the Norse explorations, see: Hopkins, A., & Hopkins, A. (2002). <i>Vikings: the Norse discovery of America (1st ed)</i>. New York: PowerKids Press.</ref> [[File:Hvalsey church greenland - creative comons.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. The Hvalsey Church in Greenland represents part of a Greenland settlement by Norse that was later abandoned.]]