Most studies of the impacts of climate change consider impacts in the future from anthropogenic climate change. Very few consider what the impacts of past climate change have been. "History and Climate: Memories of the Future?" contains 13 interdisciplinary chapters which consider impacts of change in different regions of the world, over the last millennium. Initial chapters assess evidence for the changes, while later chapters consider the impacts on agriculture, fisheries, health, and society. The book will be of interest to anyone working in the field of climate change and history.
Introduction. Unlocking the Doors to the Past: Recent Developments in Climate and Climate Impact Research; P.D. Jones, et al. Pre-Instrumental Observations. Pre-instrumental Weather Observations in Poland in the 16th and 17th Centuries; A. Bokwa, et al. The Late Maunder Minimum (1675-1715) -- climax of the `Little Ice Age' in Europe; J. Luterbacher. Instrumental Records. Early European Instrumental Records; P.D. Jones. Circulation Changes in Europe since the 1780s; J. Jacobeit, et al. Climate Syntheses. A millennium of Weather, Winds and Water in the Low Countries; A.F.V. van Engelen, et al. Long Climatic Series from Austria; I. Auer, et al. The Onset of the Little Ice Age; J.M. Grove. Sea Ice-Climate-Glacier Relationships in Northern Iceland since the Nineteenth Century: Possible Analogues for the Holocene; M. Wastl, et al. Climate Impacts. The Impact of Short-term Climate Change on British and French Agriculture and Population in the First Half of the 18th Century; A. Michaelowa. Bons Baisers D'Islande: Climatic, Environmental, and Human Dimensions Impacts of the Lakagigar Eruption (1783-1784) in Iceland; G.R. Demaree, A.E.J. Ogilvie. The Effect of Climatic Variation on Pelagic Fish and Fisheries; J. Alheit, E. Hagen. Climate and Human Health Linkages on Multiple Timescales; H.F. Diaz, et al. Index.
'... the book contains much interesting, useful material that students and researchers from a variety of disciplines will benefit from reading. ...this book does have something for everyone. ... it should retain a place in every library where there is an interest in either climate or history, or maybe even both.' Pete Langdon, University of Exeter in Progress in Physical Geography, 26:3 (2002)