The AD 1300 Event in the Pacific Basin

Author(s)
Nunn, Patrick
Publication Date
2007
Abstract
Around a.d. 1300 the entire Pacific Basin (continental Pacific Rim and oceanic Pacific Islands) was affected by comparatively rapid cooling and sea-level fall, and possibly increased storminess, that caused massive and enduring changes to Pacific environments and societies. For most Pacific societies, adapted to the warmer, drier, and more stable climates of the preceding Medieval Climate Anomaly (a.d. 750–1250), the effects of this A.D. 1300 Event were profoundly disruptive, largely because of the reduction in food resources available in coastal zones attributable to the 70–80-centimeter sea-level fall. This disruption was manifested by the outbreak of persistent conflict, shifts in settlements from coasts to refugia inland or on unoccupied offshore islands, changes in subsistence strategies, and an abrupt end to long-distance cross-ocean interaction during the ensuing Little Ice Age (a.d. 1350–1800). The A.D. 1300 Event provides a good example of the disruptive potential for human societies of abrupt, short-lived climate changes.
Citation
Geographical Review, 97(1), p. 1-23
ISSN
1931-0846
0016-7428
Link
Language
en
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Title
The AD 1300 Event in the Pacific Basin
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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