IELTS Reading Passage - The Little Ice Age

The Little Ice Age

A. In this book, a detailed examination of the Little Ice Age and other climatic shifts is
given, however, I will show the historical context before I get into it. We always think
of climate - contradicting weather - as something uncertain, yet the human population
is under the mercy of climatic change for its whole survival, with a minimum of eight
glacial parts in the past 730,000 years and even beyond that. Our ancestors
accustomed themselves to the universe but the unpredictable global warming since
the end of the last Ice Age, which is nearly 10,000 years ago, with shining
opportunism. They came up with new techniques to combat severe drought cycles,
heavy rainfall or unimaginable cold. They practised agricultural production and
stock-raising that became a part of human life; and founded the world’s first
pre-industrial eras like Egypt civilization, Mesopotamia and the Americas.
Nevertheless, the cost of sudden climate change, in famine, disease and suffering,
was highly intense.

B. The Little Ice Age period is roughly between 1300 and the middle of the nineteenth
century. Europe encountered a series of impacts due to bitterly cold winters a couple
of centuries ago; mountain glaciers in the (Swiss) Alps were the lowest, and ice bars
surrounded Iceland throughout the year. Events that occurred during the Little Ice
Age eventually shaped the world with various geographical changes. The Little Ice
Age was never a deep freeze, rather than a seesaw of aggressive climatic shifts,
some of which lasted for more than a quarter-century, mainly due to complex
connections between the ocean and the atmosphere. The seesaw led to a series of
intensely cold winters and easterly winds that evolved into heavy spring and early
summer rains, mild winters, and Atlantic storms (came often), or sometimes
droughts, light northeasterly winds, and summer heatwaves.

C. Rebuilding climate changes of the past is nearly impossible, because we started

systematic weather observations only a few centuries ago. It's available in both
Europe and North America. On the other hand, data from India and Africa situated in
the tropical region are very new. Before doing systematic weather observations, we
have had only proxy records taken largely from ice cores and tree ring structures, in
addition to a few incomplete accounts that are hand-written. At present, we have
hundreds of three-ring records data from the entire northern hemisphere and some
from south of the equator, too. These are analysed with increasing body temperature
data from ice cores drilled in Greenland, Antarctica, the Peruvian Andes, and many
other locations. We have insights on the variations between annual summer and
winter temperature in the northern hemisphere 600 years ago.

D. This book portrays the history of climatic shifts right from the past ten centuries and
the ways in which humans in Europe got used to it. In this book, Part One mentions
the Mediaeval Warm Period, i.e., close to 900 to 1200. The Norse voyagers from the
northern part of Europe experienced the northern seas, settled in Greenland, and
 explored North America during these three centuries. That time no uniform warmth,
as there were constant shifts in weather, temperature and rainfall. When you
calculate the mean European temperatures, it was about the same as today but
cooler than before.

E. It is well-aware that the Little Ice Age cooling started first in Greenland and the Arctic
in 1200. Since the Arctic ice pack covered southward, Norse voyages migrated to the
open Atlantic and ended their travel. Storminess raised in the North Sea and in the
North Atlantic. Freezing cold, much wetter weather descended on Europe during
1315 and 1320, when hundreds of them perished in a famine across the continent. In
1400, the weather was more unpredictable and stormier, having severe twists and
lower temperatures that increased in the freezing years of the late sixteenth century.
In those days, fish was very important in expanding towns and cities, where food was
a serious issue. Dried cod and herring were already the main staples of the fish trade
across Europe, however, shifts in water temperatures made fishing fleets move
offshore. The Basques, Dutch, and English were the pioneers of the offshore fishing
boats that could sustain a colder and stormier Atlantic. Without anybody's notice, a
steady agricultural revolution in northern Europe arose from concerns over food
supplies where the fishing population was overwhelming. The revolution included
aggressive commercial farming and the production of animal fodder on land that are
new and not previously taken for crops. This rise in productivity from farmland
developed some countries from mere receivers to self-sufficient with livestock, food
grains and offered protection against natural disasters like famine.

F. Global warming began to rise unnoticingly after 1850, during the beginning of the
Modern Warm Period. In this period, a mass migration from Europe took place by
poor farmers and other communities, due to the famine caused by the Irish potato
blight, to North America, Australia, southern Africa and New Zealand. Tens and
thousands of hectares of forest area fell ahead of the freshers’ axes between 1850
and 1890, as the European farming process spread around the world. The
unprecedented land clearance revealed huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, causing the starting point of human-based global warming.
Temperatures raised frequently in the twentieth century as the use of fossil fuels
catalysed, and greenhouse gases seemed to soar continuously. The rise has been
even sharper right from the early 1980s. Thus, the Little Ice Age has made extreme
weather events like Category 5 hurricanes that are more frequent. Similarly, it has
offered a path to a new climatic action because of prolonged and gradual warming.

The Little Ice Age Reading Questions

Questions 1 - 5

The reading passage has six paragraphs, A - F.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct roman number, i - vii, as your answer to each question.

List of Headings

i) Little Ice Age and its impact on Europe

ii) Replacement of Fishing
iii) Reconstruction of climate change
iv) The Little Ice Age and its civilizations
v) Human induced global warming
vi) European Temperature

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E

Questions 6 - 10

Complete each sentence with the correct ending

Write the correct letter a-g in boxes 6 - 10 on your answer sheet

6. These are analysed with increasing body temperature data

7. The revolution included aggressive commercial farming
8. Before doing systematic weather observations
9. The rise has been even sharper
10. They practised agricultural production

A. We have had only proxy records taken largely from ice cores and tree ring structures.
B. right from the early 1980s.
C. from ice cores drilled in Greenland, Antarctica, the Peruvian Andes.
D. productivity from farmland developed some countries from mere receivers to
self-sufficient.
E. and the production of animal fodder on land.
F. and stock-raising that became a part of human life.
G. lower temperatures that increased in the freezing years of the late sixteenth century.

Questions 11 - 13

Complete the sentences below.

Write NOT MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
11. Events that occurred during the Little Ice Age eventually shaped the world with various
______________.
12. Temperatures raised frequently in the twentieth century as the use of ________
catalysed, and greenhouse gases seemed to soar continuously.
13. They came up with new techniques to combat severe ___________, heavy rainfall or
unimaginable cold.