The “Little Ice Age” (LIA) in Europe – particularly Portugal (an attempt at a synthesis)

Abstract

The Modern Age and the beginning of the Contemporary period were deeply marked by a climatic worsening known as the Little Ice Age (LIA). Although with different intensities and peaks of incidence, its greatest influence seems to happen in the Northern Hemisphere. Here, due to the vastness of the matter, we only address the case of Europe. As this climatic phase can be defined through glaciological and climatic criteria, its chronology of occurrence is not consensual. In the European case, despite different proposals for chronological marking, the "LIA" would have taken place between the end of the "Medieval Warm Period" (MWP) and the second half of the 19th century (1300-1850). "LIA" was mainly due to a combination of natural factors that impacted the lives of people at that time. The expansion of volcanic activity and the consequent increase in dust and gases in the atmosphere (preventing solar penetration), combined with phases of lower incidence of solar radiant energy on the Earth's surface and the deceleration of thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic, contributed to changes in patterns thermal and rainfall. In general, in the Northern Hemisphere, win-