Cold water thrown on Viking theory

An article on the front page of the Buffalo News reports on research by Jason Briner, associate professor of geology, that showed that when Erik the Red settled Greenland around 985, it wasn’t because the mostly ice-covered island was any warmer at that point in history, rejecting the conventional theories suggesting the Medieval Warm Period allowed for the Viking landing from nearby Iceland. “Climate change has a lot of special complexity,” he said. “That’s an example of it may be warmer on one side of the earth and not on the other.” Articles on the research, which also involved scientists at Columbia University, also appeared in news outlets that include The Washington Post, The Asian Age, Business Standard, Technobahn, England’s Daily Mail and Phys Org.

Read more:

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/cold-water-thrown-on-viking-theory-20151206

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/12/04/climate-change-may-not-have-driven-the-vikings-from-greenland-after-all/

http://www.asianage.com/newsmakers/climate-did-not-force-vikings-flee-greenland-750

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/climate-change-did-not-force-vikings-out-of-greenland-study-115120600548_1.html