| Title | Chapter 8. Northern Iceland Temperature Variations and Sea-Ice Incidence c. ad 1600–1850 |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Astrid Ogilvie(author) |
| Martin W. Miles(author) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.63308/63881023874820.ch08 |
| Landing page | https://www.whpress.co.uk/publications/2025/05/02/nordicclimatehistories/ |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en |
| Copyright | A.E.J. Ogilvie and M.W. Miles |
| Publisher | The White Horse Press |
| Published on | 2025-08-15 |
| Long abstract | This paper considers variations in the occurrence of sea ice off the coasts of Iceland, and compares these with air temperatures on land, particularly for the north of Iceland, for the period c. ad 1600-1850. Data are drawn from Iceland’s rich treasury of historical records on climate and weather. For the most part, cold air temperatures on land and the incidence of sea ice correlate well, but this is not always the case. Periods with low temperatures and high sea-ice incidence include the early 1600s, the 1690s, the 1750s, the 1780s and the mid-1800s. A distinct mild period with little sea ice occurred during c. 1640 to c. 1680. Subse- quent to our main study period, the most severe years of the nineteenth century were likely to have been 1858-1892. High sea-ice incidence is also evident in, e.g., the 1880s and 1910s, in contrast to the climate amelioration recorded in Europe. The most notable feature of Iceland’s climate is its variability, thus mak- ing it problematic to ascribe a single distinct period reflecting a ‘Little Ice Age’. |
| Page range | pp. 186–208 |
| Print length | 23 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Media | 10 illustrations |
Astrid E.J. Ogilvie is a Research Professor at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado and a Senior Associate Scientist at the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri, Iceland. Her research focuses on the broader issues of climatic change and contemporary Arctic issues, as well as the environmental humanities. Her interdisciplinary, international projects have included leadership of the NordForsk Nordic Centre of Excellence project: Arctic Climate Predictions: Pathways to Resilient, Sustainable Societies (ARCPATH); and The Natural World in Literary and Historical Sources from Iceland ca. AD 800 to 1800 (ICECHANGE). She is currently a Fellow of the project The Nordic Little Ice Age (1300–1900) Lessons from Past Climate Change (NORLIA) at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. She is the author of some 100 scientific papers and has three edited books to her credit.
Martin W. Miles is a Senior Research Scientist at NORCE Norwegian Research Centre in Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. He has nearly two decades of experience in university teaching and curriculum development in geography, climate and environmental science, and quantitative methods. His research specialities include climate-system variability and regime shifts, historical climate, paleoclimate, and sea ice. His regional areas of interest are the European-Atlantic Arctic and Subarctic, including Greenland and Svalbard. Methodological approaches include empirical analysis of multivariate data records and time-series analysis, using independent but complementary data sources such as historical observations, long instrumental time series and high-resolution paleo proxy records from biological (e.g., marine sclerochronology) and geological archives (e.g., marine sediments).