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Snow
mold growing on grain.
Credit: Dr. Jenifer Huang McBeath, University of Alaska
Fairbanks.
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Even
when farmers were able to coax crops to grow during this period,
they had to contend with new blights. The longer winters and
wet ground supported a surge of new crop-killing parasites.
For example, the parasite Fusarium nivale, also known as "snow
mold," thrives under snow cover and destroyed many crops during
the LIA by attacking and eating through the wet and injured
areas of the plant, destroying plant tissue along the way.
The farmers of the Norse settlements in Greenland were the
hardest hit by the climate change. Like in much of northern
Europe, crops failed and livestock died, leading to famine.
Dependent mainly on fish and cattle, these settlements were
plagued with poor hay harvests and a declining cod population
due to colder waters. By 1370, the growing sea ice cut off
communication with the outside world, leaving settlers to
fend for themselves. A century later, German ships landed
in Greenland to find the Norse population decimated.
Sick
and Hungry
The
cooler climate also affected the health of Europeans. Famine
killed millions, and poor nutrition led to weakened immunity
and increased susceptibility to a variety of diseases. Malnutrition
aggravated an influenza epidemic in 1557-8 in England and
hastened the spread of the bubonic plague throughout Europe.
Cool, wet summers led to outbreaks of a bacterial illness
called St. Anthony's Fire — the afflicted would suffer convulsions,
hallucinations, gangrene, and even death. Grain stored in
cool, damp conditions could develop a fungus known as ergot
blight that can ferment and produce a drug similar to LSD.
According to some historians, the symptoms of ergot blight
caused the Salem witch hysteria. The increase in marshy grounds
in England during the 16th century promoted the breeding of
mosquitoes and even led to the spread of malaria.
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One
researcher looked at the average height of men throughout
history as an indicator of the overall health and well being
of a population. He found that height declined during the
period between 1100 and 1600. Northern European men had lost
an average 2.5 inches of height by the 1700s. The likely culprit?
Disease and agricultural shortages, thanks to the LIA.
Fighting
to Survive
The
economy of Europe tanked as temperatures dipped. In addition
to the increasing grain prices and lower wine production,
storms and destruction of farms from the advancing glaciers
brought less tax revenues and decreased the value of properties.
Cod fishing dropped greatly as the cod moved farther south
to warmer waters. Landowners became one focus of hostilities
when they started taking a larger share of the harvest from
peasants in years of low crop production.
The
hardships resulting from the LIA led to many cases of social
unrest. Stressed highlanders raided cattle farms in the lowlands.
Riots throughout Europe over the rising price of bread increased
in frequency. In 1789, in northern France, a particularly
bad harvest brought about riots which led to Marie Antoinette's
famous quote "Let them eat cake" and the storming of the Bastille.
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Some
people were quick to blame witches for their misfortunes
during the little ice age.
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In
the late 14th and 15th centuries, many blamed their climate
problems on witches, who were thought to control the weather.
People looked for scapegoats to blame for their suffering
and accused one another of witchcraft. Extensive witch hunts
occurred during the years with the worst weather in the LIA.
Within one German region alone, there were over 1,000 people
burned to death for witchcraft in a span of forty years. 
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