Fact brief – Is modern warming just a rebound from the Little Ice Age?
Posted on 21 June 2025 by Sue Bin Park
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Is modern warming just a rebound from the Little Ice Age?
Global temperatures are warmer today than immediately before the Little Ice Age.
The Little Ice Age was a regional cooling phenomenon caused by internal forcings that mostly moved heat around within Earth’s climate system.
This event affected North America and Europe from 1350 to 1850. While external forcings like volcanic eruptions and decreased solar activity occurred, it was a massive export of Arctic sea ice into the North Atlantic by warm currents that disrupted ocean circulation and triggered prolonged regional cooling.
The end of the Little Ice Age coincided with rising solar output and industrial greenhouse gas emissions. However, since the 1950s, solar activity has declined while global temperatures have increased.
Today’s warming is driven by human emissions, increasing the amount of heat in the system rather than redistributing it.
The late 20th century is the warmest interval in the last 2,000 years for over 98% of the globe.
Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact
This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.
Sources
University of Massachusetts Winter Is Coming: Researchers Uncover the Surprising Cause of the Little Ice Age
Eos The Little Ice Age Wasn’t Global, but Current Climate Change Is
Journal of Geophysical Research Global warming in the context of the Little Ice Age
Salon What climate change deniers get totally wrong about the Little Ice Age
Science Global Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly
Nature No evidence for globally coherent warm and cold periods over the preindustrial Common Era
About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here.
