The earth was much hotter during the middle ages, why did the ice caps not melt and flood the planet then?

Answer 1

The middle ages went through a mini ice age in which the world cooled instead of warmed. This caused famines throughout Europe and Asia and also caused the black death that killed millions of people in Europe. The Renaissance was able to happen because the mini ice age ended and made travel more accessible .

Answer 2

If the earth was hotter in the middle ages. Perhaps you mean that the summers were warmer. The reason put forward for Global Warming is that the carbon emissions are being trapped in the earths atmosphere and forming a layer of carbon around the earth. This acts like a blanket and the heat produced by the Sun on the earth is then unable to escape and so there is a gradual build up of heat, which in turn causes the ice to melt. The carbon is like a very big tea cosy.
In the middle ages there was very little in the way of carbon emissions so there was no tea cosy effect. I am not too sure of the validity of the carbon emissions causing global warming but there does seem to be some good arguments.

Answer 3

Ok, first off, Earth wasn't much hotter during the middle ages. The Medieval Warm Period was not global- it was confined to the upper Atlantic and possibly some areas in Asia.

Second, while the temperature in those areas may have been slightly higher then, they did not remain that high for any large amount of time. If you take the average temperatures from any extended period of time in the twentieth century- two decades, say, and compare it with the average temperatures of any comparable length of time in the middle ages, you'll see that they are much higher now.

Third, and last, if the ice caps melt, it won't "flood the world", only a large portion of the low lying coastal areas (such as Florida, and New York).

Answer 4

gerbyln is right. on your glass of water/ice - many of the ice is below the water point with purely a pair of quarter of an inch or much less above. The ice caps upward thrust ft above the water point. If those soften, that water won't purely enhance the water point in our oceans, yet additionally intervene with the Atlantic Ocean's below-water currents via affecting salinity. this might in-turn impact climate and marine existence - ultimately our lives on diverse ranges.

Answer 5

It melted back quite a bit . I believe there was a palm tree found on the tip of south America. But there was no flooding.

Answer 6

For those that haven't heard that it was warming in the middle ages, here is some info:

See the Roper "Current Major Interglacial" paper showing temperatures 1.3 deg C warming 700 years ago as compared to current temperatures.

Also refer to the USA today story about the article in Science magazine which indicated medieval warming in a study of tree rings.

Answer 7

It was definitely colder than now for a long period in the middle ages - that is why we have a lot of houses in Britain with large central chimneys and thick walls - built at the end of the this period.

Answer 8

Where did you get the information that the earth was "much hotter" during the Middle Ages? I've never heard that before.

Answer 9

For those who doubt it,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_warm_period

The Vikings farmed Greenland and northern Newfoundland, which today are, respectively, a chunk of ice and rather barren grassy rocks.

Answer 10

Because it wasnt hot enough to melt them and it takes hundreds of years for the oceans to react to changes in the earths surface temperature.