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Sunday, Apr. 11, 2021

Was the Medieval Warm Period as warm as today?

Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science
no

Between 950 C.E. and 1250 C.E., temperatures in the North Atlantic were as warm as those in the mid-20th century. However, temperatures in the majority of Earth’s other regions were relatively cooler. The warming was also short-lived: soon after, the Little Ice Age occurred, beginning a downward temperature trend that lasted until the Industrial Revolution.

Once humanity started burning fossil fuels, the Little Ice Age ended and a warming trend began. This time, all of Earth’s regions are warming, and average global temperatures are about 1°C higher than during the Medieval Warm Period.

As long as humans keep emitting CO2, Earth will keep warming. In contrast, the modest Medieval warming naturally ceased in accordance with sun cycles and fluctuations in volcanic activity and ocean cycles.

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