http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age
There is no agreed beginning year to the Little Ice Age, although there is a frequently referenced series of events preceding the known climatic minima. Starting in the 13th century, pack ice began advancing southwards in the North Atlantic, as did glaciers in Greenland. The three years of torrential rains beginning in 1315 ushered in an era of unpredictable weather in Northern Europe which did not lift until the 19th century. There is anecdotal evidence of expanding glaciers almost worldwide. There is anecdotal evidence of expanding glaciers almost worldwide. In contrast, a climate reconstruction based on glacial length[6] shows no great variation from 1600 to 1850, though it shows strong retreat thereafter.
Roughly 1200-1600 AD glaciers increased, 1600-1850 AD fairly stable, afterwards glacial shrinking.
The Earth goes through cooling and warming periods. (real) Scientists aren't sure why, though there are theories. A fairly likely one is the heat from the Sun is not constant, and it varies over periods of several centuries.
Yet, today, America's leaders are reenacting every folly that brought these great powers [Russia, Germany, and Japan] to ruin -- from arrogance and hubris, to assertions of global hegemony, to imperial overstretch, to trumpeting new 'crusades,' to handing out war guarantees to regions and countries where Americans have never fought before. We are piling up the kind of commitments that produced the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.
— Pat Buchanan – A Republic, Not an Empire
