Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the impact of climate extremes on farming in SE Norway during the Little Ice Age, and how farming practices and human responses might have contributed to different levels of social vulnerability to changing climates within this region.

Paper long abstract:

18th century Norway experienced several climate extremes that seem to have coincided with documented incidents of harvest failure, food shortages, and increased mortality rates. The climate during the Little Ice Age, characterized by reduced summer temperatures, increased humidity, and a shorted growing season, is likely to have caused considerable difficulties for grain dependent communities. Situated far north, in a marginal agricultural landscape, Norwegian farmers are considered particularly vulnerability to even minor changes in growth conditions. However, 18th century Norway is a highly diversified country in terms of local climates, topography, and farming strategies, which resulted in different facets of agricultural vulnerability to climate change and weather extremes. Statistical data from the period, such as grain prices and birth and mortality rates, also suggest that the socio-economical impact on society was unevenly distributed between regions, of which Southeastern Norway seems to have been particularly susceptible.

This paper examines the historical evidence for farming practices, adaptational strategies, and climate conditions in Southeastern Norway in the late 18th century, and discuss its relevance for understanding how society was affected by and responded to changing environmental circumstances during the Little Ice Age. The study pay particular focus to the works of late 18th century meteorologist, agronomist, intellectual, and member of the Mannheim society, Jacob Nicolaj Wilse, and utilizes his weather observations and agricultural data in a GIS simulation of growth conditions for different crops during climate extremes. Together, the data provide new insights in the socionatural dynamics of the Little Ice Age.