Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:52:46.070Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - The Little Ice Age in the Near East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2012

Sam White
Affiliation:
Oberlin College, Ohio
Get access

Summary

For centuries, scholars have speculated about the nature of climate fluctuations and their consequences in historical times. However, only recently have historians and climatologists found ways to reliably and accurately reconstruct these changes. Global warming, in particular, has inspired the creation of ever longer and more comprehensive climate histories based on proxy data, such as tree rings and ice cores, and on events recorded in historical sources. While such efforts have focused principally on early modern Europe, the wealth of weather-related information in Ottoman writings and documents, together with contemporary European reports and modern climatology studies, permit a similar if less detailed reconstruction of climate in the Near East. This climate history reveals both likenesses and disparities with Little Ice Age weather in Europe and in other parts of the world. Both factors – the local forces at work in Near Eastern climate and the global forces that created the Little Ice Age – played a key role in the atmospheric and human drama of the Ottoman crisis.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Griswold, WilliamClimatic Change: A Possible Factor in the Social Unrest of Seventeenth Century AnatoliaHumanist and Scholar: Essays in Honor of Andreas TietzeLowry, H.Quataert, D.IstanbulIsis 1993Google Scholar
Telelis, I.Chrysos, E.The Byzantine Sources as Documentary Evidence for the Reconstruction of Historical ClimateEuropean Climate Reconstructed from Documentary Data: Methods and ResultsFrenzel, B.StuttgartFischer 1992Google Scholar
Vural, Y.The Frozen Bosphorus and Its Paleoclimatic Implications Based on a Summary of the Historical DataThe Black Sea Flood Question: Changes in Coastline, Climate, and Human SettlementYanko-Hombach, V.DordrechtSpringer 2007Google Scholar
Hütteroth, Wolf-DieterEcology of the Ottoman LandsThe Cambridge History of TurkeyFaroqhi, S.New YorkCambridge University Press 2007 19Google Scholar
İz, FahirXVII. Yüzyılda Halk Dili ile Yazılmış Bir Tarih Kitabı: Hüseyin Tuği ‘Vak'a-i Sultan Osman HanTürk Dili Araştımaları Yıllığı Belleten 1967 119Google Scholar
Camuffo, D.Freezing of the Venetian Lagoon since the 9th Century AD in Comparison to the Climate of Western Europe and EnglandClimatic Change 10 1987 43CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornes, J.Wainwright, J.Environmental Issues in the MediterraneanLondonRoutledge 2004Google Scholar
Karaca, M.Cyclone Track Variability over Turkey in Association with Regional ClimateInternational Journal of Climatology 20 2000 12253.0.CO;2-1>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutiel, H.Circulation and Extreme Rainfall Conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Last CenturyInternational Journal of Climatology 16 1996 733.0.CO;2-G>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kadıoğlu, MikdatKüresel İklim Değişimi ve TürkiyeIstanbulGüncel Yayınları 2001Google Scholar
Cullen, H.DeMenocal, P.North Atlantic Influence on Tigris-Euphrates StreamflowInternational Journal of Climatology 20 2000 8533.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, H.Impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on Middle Eastern Climate and StreamflowClimatic Change 55 2002 315CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felis, T.A Coral Oxygen Isotope Record from the Red Sea Documenting NAO, ENSO, and North Pacific Teleconnections on Middle East Climate Variability since the Year 1750Paleoceanography 15 2000 679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, MichaelLarge-Scale Climate Variability and Connections with the Middle East in Past CenturiesClimatic Change 55 2002 287CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xoplaki, E.Wet Season Mediterranean Precipitation Variability: Influence of Large-Scale Dynamics and TrendsClimate Dynamics 23 2004 63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Türkeş, M.Erlat, E.Climatological Responses of Winter Precipitation for the Eastern Mediterranean in Turkey to Variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation During the Period 1930–2001Theoretical and Applied Climatology 81 2005 45CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akkemik, Ü.Aras, A.Reconstruction (1689–1994) of April-August Precipitation in the Southern Part of Central TurkeyInternational Journal of Climatology 25 2005 537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touchan, R.Preliminary Reconstructions of Spring Precipitation in Southwestern Turkey from Tree-Ring WidthInternational Journal of Climatology 23 2003 157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reddaway, J.Bigg, G.Climatic Change over the Mediterranean and Links to the More General Atmospheric CirculationInternational Journal of Climatology 16 1996 6513.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B.The Factors Governing the Summer Regime of the Eastern MediterraneanInternational Journal of Climatology 24 2004 1859CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, M.Eastern Mediterranean-Indian-African Summer Climate Connections through the Past 2000 YearsGeophysical Research Abstracts 6 2004 00418Google Scholar
Karabörk, M.Kahya, E.The Teleconnections between Extreme Phases of the Southern Oscillation and Precipitation Patterns over TurkeyInternational Journal of Climatology 23 2003 1607CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, W.El Niño Occurrences over the Past Four and a Half CenturiesJournal of Geophysical Research 92 1987 14449CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, RChappell, JEl Niño Chronologies and the History of Global Crises during the Little Ice AgeEl Niño: History and CrisisGrove, R.Chappell, J.CambridgeWhite Horse Press 2000Google Scholar
Markgraf, V.Diaz, H.The Past ENSO Record: A SynthesisEl Niño and the Southern OscillationDiaz, H.Markgraf, V.CambridgeCambridge University Press 2000Google Scholar
Mann, MichaelVolcanic and Solar Forcing of the Tropical Pacific over the Past 1000 YearsJournal of Climate 18 2005 447CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gergis, J.Fowler, A.A History of ENSO Events since A.D. 1525: Implications for Future Climate ChangeClimatic Change 92 2009 343CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, J.Mann, M.Amman, C.Proxy Evidence for an El Niño-Like Response to Volcanic ForcingNature 426 2003 274CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emile-Geay, JulienVolcanoes and ENSO over the Past MillenniumJournal of Climate 21 2008 3134CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, WilliamA Study of Southern Oscillation-Related Activity for AD 622–1900 Incorporating Nile River Flood DataDiaz, H.Markgraf, V.El Nino: Historical and Paleoclimate Aspects of the Southern OscillationCambridgeCambridge University Press 1992Google Scholar
Hassan, FekriHistorical Nile Floods and Their Implications for Climatic ChangeScience 212 1981 1142CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popper, WilliamThe Cairo NilometerBerkeleyUniversity of California Press 1951Google Scholar
Whetton, P.Rutherford, I.Historical ENSO Teleconnections in the Eastern HemisphereClimatic Change 28 1994 221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, JeanLittle Ice Ages: Ancient and ModernLondonRoutledge 2004Google Scholar
Roy Ladurie, Emanuel LeTimes of Feast, Times of FamineGarden City, NYDoubleday 1971Google Scholar
DeVries, JanMeasuring the Impact of Climate on History: The Search for Appropriate MethodologiesClimate and HistoryRottberg, R.Rabb, T.PrincetonPrinceton University Press 1981Google Scholar
Rotberg, R.Rabb, T.Climate and HistoryPrinceton, NJPrinceton University Press 1981CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, J.Schofield, R.Famine, Disease and Social Order in Early Modern SocietyCambridgeCambridge University Press 1989CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Utterström, GustafClimatic Fluctuations and Population Problems in Early Modern HistoryThe Scandinavian Economic History Review 3 1955 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griswold, WilliamThe Great Anatolian Rebellion, 1591–1611BerlinK. Schwarz 1983Google Scholar
Marcus, AbrahamThe Middle East on the Eve of ModernityNew YorkColumbia University Press 1989Google Scholar
Gerber, HaimThe Social Origins of the Modern Middle EastLondonMansell 1987 15Google Scholar
Jones, P. D.High-Resolution Palaeoclimatology of the Last Millennium: A Review of Current Status and Future ProspectsThe Holocene 19 2009 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brázdil, R.Historical Climatology in Europe: The State of the ArtClimatic Change 70 2005 363CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brázdil, R.European Climatology of the Past 500 Years: New Challenges for Historical ClimatologyClimatic Change 101 2010 7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfister, ChristianThe Little Ice Age: Thermal and Wetness Indices for Central EuropeJournal of Interdisciplinary History 10 1980 665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luterbacher, J.European Seasonal and Annual Temperature Variability, Trends, and Extremes since 1500Science 303 2004 1499CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luterbacher, J.Circulation Dynamics and Its Influence on European and Mediterranean January-April Climate over the Past Half Millennium: Results and Insights from Instrumental Data, Documentary Evidence and Coupled Climate ModelsClimatic Change 101 2010 201CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfister, ChristianBrázdil, RudolfClimatic Variability in Sixteenth-Century Europe and Its Social Dimension: A SynthesisClimatic Change 43 1999 5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfister, ChristianWetternachhersage: 500 Jahre Klimavariationen und Natur Katastrophen (1496–1995)BernPaul Haupt 1999Google Scholar
Glaser, RüdigerKlimageschichte MitteleuropasDarmstadtPrimus Verlag 2001Google Scholar
García-Herrera, R.Description and General Background to Ships’ Logbooks as a Source of Climatic DataClimatic Change 73 2005 13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eddy, JohnSolar History and Human AffairsHuman Ecology 22 1994 23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rind, D.The Sun's Role in Climate VariationsScience 296 2002 673CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shindell, DrewSolar Forcing of Regional Climate Change during the Maunder MinimumScience 294 2001 2149CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Free, M.Robock, A.Global Warming in the Context of the Little Ice AgeJournal of Geophysical Research 104 1999 19057CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, H. H.Volcanic Dust in the Atmosphere; with a Chronology and Assessment of Its Meteorological SignificancePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (Series A., Mathematical and Physical Sciences) 266 1970 425CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briffa, K.Influence of Volcanic Eruptions on Northern Hemisphere Summer Temperature over the Past 600 YearsNature 393 1999 450CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Silva, S.Zielinski, G.Global Influence of the AD 1600 Eruption of Huaynaputina, PeruNature 393 1998 455CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shindell, DrewVolcanic and Solar Forcing of Climate Change during the Preindustrial EraJournal of Climate 16 2003 40942.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, MichaelGlobal Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate AnomalyScience 326 2009 1256CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wanner, HeinzDie Kleine Eiszeit – mögliche Gründe für ihre EnstehungNachhaltige Geschichte: Festschrift für Christian PfisterKirchhofer, AndreZurichChronos 2009Google Scholar
Mass, C.Portman, D.Major Volcanic Eruptions and Climate: A Critical EvaluationJournal of Climate 2 1989 5662.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robock, A.Mao, J.The Volcanic Signal in Surface ObservationsJournal of Climate 8 1995 10862.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camuffo, D.Enzi, S.Chronology of ‘Dry Fogs’ in Italy, 1374–1891Theoretical and Applied Climatology 50 1994 31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luterbacher, J.Mediterranean Climate Variability over the Last Centuries: A ReviewThe Mediterranean Climate: An Overview of the Main Characteristics and IssuesLionello, P.AmsterdamElsevier 2006Google Scholar
Bottema, SytzeA Pollen Diagram from the Syrian Anti-LebanonPaleorient 3 1975 259CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Zeist, W.Woldring, H.A Postglacial Pollen Diagram from Lake Van in Eastern AnatoliaReview of Paleobotany and Palynology 26 1978 249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, N.Wright, H.Vegetational, Lake-Level, and Climatic History of the Near East and Southwest AsiaGlobal Climate since the Last Glacial MaximumWright, H.MinneapolisUniversity of Minnesota Press 1993Google Scholar
Wick, L.Evidence of Late Glacial and Holocene Climatic Change and Human Impact in Eastern Anatolia: High-Resolution Pollen, Charcoal, Isotopic and Geochemical Records from the Laminated Sediments of Lake Van, TurkeyThe Holocene 13 2003 665CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felis, T.A Coral Oxygen Isotope Record from the Red Sea Documenting NAO, ENSO, and North Pacific Teleconnections on Middle East Climate Variability since the Year 1750Paleoceanography 15 2000 679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M.Ayalon, A.Kaufman, A.Middle to Late Holocene (6,500 Yr. Period) Paleoclimate in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from Stable Isotopic Composition of Speleothems from Soreq Cave, IsraelWater, Environment and Society in Times of Climatic ChangeIssar, A.Brown, N.DordrechtKluwer Academic Publishing 1998Google Scholar
Kunniholm, PeterArchaeological Evidence and Non-Evidence for Climate ChangePhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 330 1990 645CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Arrigo, R.Cullen, H.A 350-Year (AD 1628–1980) Reconstruction of Turkish PrecipitationDendrochronologia 19 2001 853Google Scholar
Touchan, R.Hughes, M.Dendrochronology in JordanJournal of Arid Environments 42 1999 291CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touchan, R.A 396-Year Reconstruction of Precipitation in Southern JordanJournal of the American Water Resources Association 35 1999 49CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touchan, R.Preliminary Reconstructions of Spring Precipitation in Southwestern Turkey from Tree-Ring WidthInternational Journal of Climatology 23 2003 157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touchan, R.Standardized Precipitation Index Reconstructed from Turkish Tree-Ring WidthsClimatic Change 72 2005 339CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touchan, R.Reconstructions of Spring/Summer Precipitation for the Eastern Mediterranean from Tree Ring Widths and Its Connection to Large-Scale Atmospheric CirculationClimate Dynamics 25 2005 75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akkemik, Ü.Aras, A.Reconstruction (1689–1994) of April-August Precipitation in the Southern Part of Central TurkeyInternational Journal of Climatology 25 2005 537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akkemik, Ü.A Preliminary Reconstruction (AD 1685–2003) of Spring Precipitation Using Oak Tree Rings in the Western Black Sea Region of TurkeyInternational Journal of Biometeorology 49 2005 297CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akkemik, Ü.Anadolu'nun Son 350 Yılında Yaşanan Önemli Kurak ve Yağışlı YıllarKuvarterner Sempozyumu 5 2005 129Google Scholar
Akkemik, Ü.Tree-Ring Reconstructions of Precipitation and Streamflow for Northwestern TurkeyInternational Journal of Climatology 28 2008 173CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griggs, C.A Regional High-Frequency Reconstruction of May-June Precipitation in the North Aegean from Oak Tree Rings, A.D. 1089–1989International Journal of Climatology 27 2007 1075CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, J.Conterio, A.The Climate of Crete in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CenturiesClimatic Change 30 1995 223CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grove, J.Conterio, A.Climate in the Eastern and Central Mediterranean, 1675 to 1715Climatic Trends and Anomalies in Europe 1675–1715Frenzel, B.StuttgartFischer 1994Google Scholar
Grove, J.Grove, A.Little Ice Age Climates in the Eastern MediterraneanEuropean Climate Reconstructed from Documentary Data: Methods and ResultsFrenzel, B.StuttgartFischer 1992Google Scholar
Xoplaki, E.Variability of Climate in Meridional Balkans During the Periods 1675–1715 and 1780–1830 and Its Impact on Human LifeClimatic Change 48 2001 581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Repapis, C.A Note on the Frequency of Occurrence of Severe Winters as Evidenced in Monastery and Historical Records from Greece During the Period 1200–1900 A.DTheoretical and Applied Climatology 39 1988 213CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rácz, LajosThe Climate of Hungary During the Maunder Minimum (1675–1715)Climatic Trends and Anomalies in EuropeFrenzel, B.StuttgartFischer 1994Google Scholar
Rácz, LajosVariations of Climate in Hungary (1540–1779)European Climate Reconstructed from Documentary Data: Methods and ResultsFrenzel, B.StuttgartFischer 1992Google Scholar
Rácz, LajosClimate History of Hungary Since 16th Century: Past, Present and FuturePécsCentre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 1999Google Scholar
Stathakopoulos, DionysiosReconstructing the Climate of the Byzantine World: State of the Problem and Case StudiesPeople and Nature in Historical PerspectiveLaszlovsky, J.Szabo, P.BudapestCentral European University 2003Google Scholar
Telelis, Byzantine Sources”; Ioannis Telelis, “Medieval Warm Period and the Beginning of the Little Ice Age in the Eastern Mediterranean: An Approach of Physicial and Anthropogenic EvidenceByzanz als Raum: Zu Methoden und Inhalten der historische Geographie des östlichen MittelmeerraumesBelk, KlausViennaÖsterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 2000Google Scholar
Telelis, IoannisClimatic Fluctuations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East AD 300–1500 from Byzantine Documentary and Proxy Physical Paleoclimatic Evidence – A ComparisonJahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 58 2008 167CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Little Ice Age in the Near East
  • Sam White, Oberlin College, Ohio
  • Book: The Climate of Rebellion in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
  • Online publication: 05 February 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844058.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Little Ice Age in the Near East
  • Sam White, Oberlin College, Ohio
  • Book: The Climate of Rebellion in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
  • Online publication: 05 February 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844058.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Little Ice Age in the Near East
  • Sam White, Oberlin College, Ohio
  • Book: The Climate of Rebellion in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
  • Online publication: 05 February 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844058.009
Available formats
×