River response to the last neoglacial (the ‘Little Ice Age’) in northern, western and central Europe

Abstract

Abstract Climate changes since AD 1200 have been of high magnitude. Significant lowering of temperatures occurred during the neoglacial (‘Little Ice Age’), between AD 1200–1400 and AD 1600–1800 with maximum cooling in the mid-late eighteenth century. At this time many European valley/cirque glaciers reached their maximum extent since the late Pleistocene. Neoglaciation was followed by an overall warming trend, although with significant reversals superimposed. Alongside these temperature changes were variations in the nature and amount of precipitation, and in consequence, river basins in north, west and central Europe experienced enhanced fluvial activity between 1250 and 1550 and particularly between 1750 and 1900. These phases coincide with periods of climatic transition; cooling after the Medieval optimum and warming during the latter stages of the Little Ice Age respectively. In contrast, the intervening period (1550–1750), which corresponds with the most severe phases of the last neoglacial, was associated with lower rates of fluvial activity.