Genealogy and the Little Ice Age - New Book

Genealogy and the Little Ice Age

by Wayne Shepheard

paperback 84 pages, published 2023, illustrated in colour

A new book by the author of Surviving Mother Nature’s Tests: The Effects Climate Change and Other Natural Phenomena have had on the lives of our Ancestors.

Amazing presentation Wayne. Thank you for reminding me that you can never research an ancestor's life separately from their environment. Their life stories become so much richer when you have a better understanding of the context in which they were living. - Linda. comment on Wayne's presentation on "The Little Ice Age" at Family History Down Under 2021.

This book deals with the physical parameters of the Little Ice Age (1300-1850), the effects climatic conditions of that period had on people and how the environmental situations influenced the broader society.

That era is particularly important for genealogists to understand as it encompasses the time interval during which most of the records relating to family history interest were created. It was also the time from when surnames were first commonly used by our ancestral families.

In assembling the most complete histories of families it is important to understand the physical environment in which people lived. The Little Ice Age was a cool climatic period, a time in history when, from a physical or environmental standpoint, in comparison to the warm periods that preceded and followed: temperatures around the globe were substantially cooler; weather was mostly unstable; food production was especially challenging; and living conditions overall were difficult and harsh.

These factors had enormous impact on the lives and livelihoods of people, contributing to famine, spread of disease, injury to being and habitat, untimely deaths, social unrest and, in many cases, migration.

Much of the information summarized has been taken from published articles and books researched and written by a large and varied group of scientists and historians concerned with weather and climate; population; economics and marketplaces; sociology; medicine; archaeology; and geology, astrophysics, oceanography, and other natural sciences.

CONTENTS
Introduction
     Little Ice Age definition
     Relevance to family history
Little Ice Age time period definition
Climate relationships during the Holocene
     Warm & cold periods
     Rise & fall of civilizations
Weather versus climate
     Climate zones
     Climate mechanisms
     El Niño & La Niña
     Little Ice Age impact
Medieval Warm Period
Circumstances of the Little Ice Age
     Parameters
     Consequences of the change in climate
     Measuring climate changes
Impact on the physical environment
     Landforms & geography
     Glaciers
     Northern Atlantic Ice Pack
     Weather
     Drought
     Famine
Impact on people
     Population
     Agricultural developments
     Urbanization
     Rivers and coastlines
          Holderness Peninsula, East Yorkshire, England
     Major storms
          1342 Magdalene Flood
          1530 St. Felix Day Flood
          1703 The Great Storm
          1780 San Calixto Hurricane
     Drought, deluge and famine
          1315-1317 The Great Famine
          1540 Drought & famine in Europe
          1585-1612 Roanoke & Jamestown Droughts
          1739-41 Great Frost & Famine
          1788-93 Australia
     Disease and epidemics
     Migration
     Indigenous populated regions
Impact on society
     Enclosure
     Age of Enlightenment
          Welfare programs and the end of feudalism
     Industrious Revolution
     Industrial Revolution
     Surname usage
Information sources for genealogists
Summary
References
Index

AVAILABLE in both print and ebook editions 

book - UTP0151 - $32.50

ebook - UTPE0151 - $12.95

Listen to my video to get more information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB38T4PUUTA