Explorations in historical climatology

For many historical climatologists cold, wet and stormy weather
worsened life for most European people and harmed the economy
during the early modern period. Warmth on the other hand is
generally regarded as a beneficial thing but too much of it is
also harmful. This all seems to make sense if one ignores the
Dutch economic miracle which transformed a small piece of land on
the edge of Europe into the first modern economy just as the
Little Ice Age entered its coldest phase. How is this possible in
the face of climatic stress?


This is one of that questions that Dagomar Degroot, a PhD
Candidate in environmental history at York University in Toronto,
Canada, addresses on this episode of the podcast. His research
explores the issue of how the changing climate of the Little Ice
Age influenced the cultural, military and economic histories of
the Dutch Republic during the early modern period. In addition,
Dagomar will discuss the pitfalls of determinism and
indeterminism in historical climatology, the sources available to
historian’s researching climate and the relevance of historical
climate research for present day debates about global warming and
climate change. Finally, he will talk about the importance of
blogging for the historical profession as a tool to communicate
research outcomes to a wider audience.