What Led the Vikings to Leave Greenland?

During the Medieval Warming Period around 1000 CE the vikings in Greenland prospered. Because they were more farmers than fisherman, their agriculture flourished. With the melting of the ice on and around the island, the Northwest Passage opened for travel and trade with European countries. As the temperatures dropped falling into what is known as the Little Ice Age, a drop of about 1.1 degree Fahrenheit by around 1700 CE, many things happened. This climate change meant a change in the amount and placement of ice, changing their boating routes. Around the same time, the demands for their exported goods was lowered and the more difficult boating routes along with less income made it more difficult to attain the necessary imported supplies. Colder temperatures also brought freezing ground, and difficulty farming; although evidence suggests they were able to adapt to fishing fairly easily. Therefore because the drop in temperature brought changes to the climate and altered their land and boating routes, the vikings also had to adapt and leave Greenland.

Figure 1: Temperature from 1AD to 2000AD

Image Source: http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/loehle_v_fig1.png

This figure shows the temperature from the year 1AD to 2000AD. As you can see there is a gradual drop from around the year 1000 to around 1700. This is the drop from the Medieval Warming Period into the Little Ice Age, about .6 degrees Celsius or about 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the period in which the Vikings in Greenland experienced changes and decided to leave.