Warm and wet Little Climatic Optimum and a cold and dry Little Ice Age in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA

摘要

In the next century, increases in atmospheric trace gas concentration could warm the global average temperature beyond what it has ranged during the past century. Examination of larger-than-historic climatic changes that have occurred in the past in specific regions provides realistic context for evaluating such potential future changes. This paper has contrasted the climatic manifestation of the Little Climatic Optimum or Medieval Warm Period (AD 900--1300) with that of the Little Ice Age (AD 1300--1850) in the northern Colorado Plateau region of the southwestern USA. The zenith of the Anasazi occupation coincides with the former and their demise coincides with the latter, when conditions became too cold and especially dry (in the summer) to support upland dry farming. During the height of the Little Climatic Optimum the region was characterized by a relatively long growing season and greater winter and summer precipitation than that of today. This resulted in a relatively rapid development of a potential dry-farming belt that was twice as wide as the present and areas that cannot be dry farmed today were routinely farmed by the Anasazi. Such conditions would be beneficial to dry farmers in the Four Corners region if those conditions were repeated in the near future.