Little Ice Age [Hardcover]

Jean M. Grove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1988

The evidence for the Little Ice Age, the most important fluctuation in global climate in historical times, is most dramatically represented by the advance of mountain glaciers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and their retreat since about 1850. The effects on the landscape and the daily life of people have been particularly apparent in Norway and the Alps. This major book places an extensive body of material relating to Europe, in the form of documentary evidence of the history of the glaciers, their portrayal in paintings and maps, and measurements made by scientists and others, within a global perspective. It shows that the glacial history of mountain regions all over the world displays a similar pattern of climatic events. Furthermore, fluctuations on a comparable scale have occurred at intervals of a millennium or two throughout the last ten thousand years since the ice caps of North America and northwest Europe melted away. This is the first scholarly work devoted to the Little Ice Age, by an author whose research experience of the subject has been extensive. This book includes large numbers of maps, diagrams and photographs, many not published elsewhere, and very full bibliographies. It is a definitive work on the subject, and an excellent focus for the work of economic and social historians as well as glaciologists, climatologists, geographers, and specialists in mountain environment.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Grove is well known for her special expertise in glacial history. . . . Grove's book is the first worldwide treatment. In detail, style, wealth of data, and illustrations, it demands description as the basic reference and as a springboard for future research. It is also of special relevance as the scientific community and society at large become increasingly concerned about future climatic changes. . . . Highly recommended for college and university libraries.
–Choice

In her major analysis of evidence from every glacial region of the world, Jean Grove steers her way . . . with remarkable skill, neither ignoring the inconsistencies nor allowing them to obscure the truth. The result is the most complete and plausible picture yet of the Little Ice Age. . . . There is barely a word or sentence that cannot be understood by any intelligent reader.
–New Scientist

Jean Grove's book is an authoritative, superbly docuemnted, and excellently written summary of the abundant evidence of climatic change during the last few centuries in the context of broader climatic variations of the last 10,000 years.
–Environment --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Law Book Co of Australasia; First Edition edition (March 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0416315402
• ISBN-13: 978-0416315400
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,524,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tourguide to the Little Ice Age, May 24, 2000

By 

Stein, Eric (Jena, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Little Ice Age (Hardcover)

Although Jean M. Groves book about the Little Ice Age (or LIA) is not really up to date anymore, it still is the most comprehensive textbook about the cooling period that preceeded our present climate amelioration. Both, measurements as well as historic records are presented in great detail and some of the striking pictures of e.g advancing alpine glaciers or abandonned moraines tell us much more about the profound impact of the LIA on human activities than graphs and tables could do. Unfortunately most of the pictures are in b/w. The contents are well organized and an introducing chapter on the history of the term "Little Ice Age" gives a good overview on the topic before the following chapters become more regionally specific. Grove's Little Ice Age is a must have for everyone who is scientifically dealing with the topic, but is interesting as well for people who want to learn how even lesser climate changes are capable to affect the course of the history and how Greenland and Iceland got their names for example.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even though dated, still the best book on the topic, September 18, 2003

By 

Jerald R Lovell (Clinton Township, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Little Ice Age (Hardcover)

The so-called Little Ice Age was one of a series of climatic changes in the Holocene that serve to remind us we still live in a period of relatively frigid climate. Several books have been done on this phenomenon, from which we are still emerging. This book is by all odds the best, even though some of the material is dated in terms of conclusions drawn.

Following a most worthwhile introductory chapter, author Grove turns to a review of how the cooler weather impacted various regions, including Iceland, Scandinavia, the Alps, North America, and New Zealand. Although diagrams are provided, the best proof of the ice advances and retreats lies in fine black and white photos and narratives of persons who lived in areas where farms were destroyed, people had to leave, and life was threatened by famine. The photos are in black and white because, for the most part, they were taken before color film processing was invented.

The author also presents an excellent discussion of how morainal advances show the Little Ice Age was hardly a singular event, and follows this analysis with a general review of Holocene warmings and coolings. Plainly, even geologically short interglacial periods, such as we now live in, are marked by fluctuations in climate. The text is well-written, well organized, and easily readable.

In its closing pages, the book reflects on how even minor changes in climate can have have dire consequences. The book notes that Norse colonies in Greenland were destroyed, and that the people died of famine when they could not leave because ice choked the North Atlantic.

Although the concept of the Atlantic Conveyer Belt had not yet been articulated, author Grove presents data inferring its existence. She also addresses the concept of warming climate, but mercifully spares the reader any conclusions as to its cause.

I found the book to be exceptionally informative, and would recommend it to anyone, student, graduate, or interested layman, who enjoys reading about glaciation, climate, geology, or all of the.