Little Ice Age

noun

: an episode of glacial expansion whose maximum extension occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries

Examples of Little Ice Age in a Sentence

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Going even further back, scholars say that the fascination can be traced to a swirling blizzard of nostalgia, music, popular literature, the rise of Victorian mass culture ‒ and even the Little Ice Age. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024 Lasting from about 1300 to around 1850, the Little Ice Age was a global period of widespread cooler temperatures, potentially caused by solar changes and volcanic activity. Elizabeth Weise, The Enquirer, 17 Dec. 2024 Discussing the impact of the Little Ice Age in Australia, Parker likens the adaptive behavior of seventeenth-century aboriginal people to the resilience of their continent’s plants and animals. Deborah R. Coen, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014 The study authors believe the proliferation of power plants in Florida in the early 20th century, coupled with the ending of the Little Ice Age, allowed manatees to expand their range northward. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Nov. 2024 In the thirteenth century, though, a global cooling trend began, which has been called the Little Ice Age. The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 21 Nov. 2024 The team suggests that as the effects of the Little Ice Age faded, manatees began to extend their range northward towards Florida. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Nov. 2024 The mild conditions gave way to a frigid period known as the Little Ice Age, however, which held sway until the 19th century. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2024 Despite the breadth and force of Global Crisis, the story of the lessons learned from the Little Ice Age calls for one more chapter: on the dawning of an ecological consciousness. Deborah R. Coen, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2014

Word History

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Little Ice Age was in 1939

Dictionary Entries Near Little Ice Age

Cite this Entry

“Little Ice Age.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Little%20Ice%20Age. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.

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