If only Vikings had SUVs

They would be still living in Greenland and Vinland. At least thats how it looks like if you listen to the environmentalist fanatics of today who blame any temperature deviations on man-made cause such as emissions from our cars, industries and airplanes. But if any climate change is strictly man-made - what caused the "Little Ice Age" that drove the Vikings out of North America?

Climatic deterioration began in the 1200s; glaciers expanded in Iceland and in the Alps. Vineyards had declined in Germany by the 1300s and had completely disappeared in England. Fishing replaced cereal grains as the main source of food in Iceland, and sea ice expanded southward between Greenland and Iceland. Around 1340-50 the more northerly of the two Greenland communities was abandoned to the native Inuits. In the 1347-50, bubonic plague swept through Europe and killed one in three people, but it is unknown whether the plague reached either Iceland or Greenland.

The last reliable account of Norsemen living in Greenland comes from 1408-10, when a wedding took place at Hvalsey Church–see Fig. 19-8. Based on archeologic evidence, it seems that Norsemen continued to live in the vicinity until about 1480. However, when the region was next visited, by German merchants in 1510, only Inuits were found living among the ruins. The harsh climate after 1300 was undoubtedly a factor in the demise of the Norse settlements. Cold climate reduced dairy production, and extensive sea ice hampered essential trade with Europe.

More >>>

Poor Vikings! If only they had planes and SUVs they could have saved their communities by causing a global warming which would have offset the Little Ice age. Poor descendants of Erik the Red were unlucky to be born centuries before the internal combustion engines were invented...

By the way, just from the name alone, Greenland once used to be green - thus much smaller part of it was covered by the glaciers. How much higher were the sea levels back then? I don't have all the numbers but it appears that the threat of the humanity drowning because of the rising sea levels is greatly exaggerated. Just as the whole idea that human activity can actually cause a "global warming".