Homeric Minimum

The Homeric Minimum is a grand solar minimum that took place between 2,800 and 2,550 years before present (c. 800–600 BC). It appears to coincide with, and have been the cause of, a phase of climate change at that time, which involved a wetter western and drier eastern Europe. This had far-reaching effects on human civilization, some of which may be recorded in Greek mythology and the Old Testament.

Solar phenomenon

The Homeric Minimum is a persistent and deep[1] solar minimum that took place between 2,800 and 2,550 years before present,[2] starting around 830 BC[3] and resembling the Spörer Minimum.[4] This minimum is sometimes considered to be part of a longer "Hallstattzeit" solar minimum between 705–200 BC that also includes a second minimum between 460 and 260 BC.[5] The Homeric Minimum however also coincided with a geomagnetic excursion named "Etrussia-Sterno", which may have altered the climate response to the Homeric Minimum.[6]

Mechanisms of climate effects

Variations in the solar output have effects on climate, less through the usually quite small effects on insolation and more through the relatively large changes of UV radiation and potentially also indirectly through modulation of cosmic ray radiation. The 11-year solar cycle measurably alters the behaviour of weather and atmosphere, but decadal and centennial climate cycles are also attributed to solar variation.[2]

Effects on human populations and climate

Debates on whether a climatic deterioration occurred during that time began already in the late 19th century.[7] The Homeric Minimum has been linked with a phase of climate change,[8] during which the Western United States,[9] Europe and the North Atlantic became colder and wetter[10] although the eastern parts of Europe appear to have become drier.[11] This climate oscillation has been called the "Homeric Climate Oscillation"[8] or the "2.8 kyr event",[12] and it has been associated with the Iron Age Cold Epoch[13] and a cultural interruption in Ireland although its effect there is still debated.[7]

Human cultures at that time underwent changes,[8] which also coincide with the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.[14] The climate fallout of this prolonged solar minimum may have had substantial impact on human societies at that time.[15]

It has been speculated that some ancient literary references refer to these phenomena. For example, the period saw the growth of a glacier on Mount Olympus, while Greek mythology and Homer refer to ice and storms on the mountain, which may also be reflected in the name "Olympus".[16] Increased activity of the polar lights at the end of the Homeric Minimum may have inspired Ezekiel's vision of God in the Old Testament.[17]

a stormy wind ... out of the north ... with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth ... as it were gleaming metal ... an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal.

Other effects

A variety of phenomena have been linked to the Homeric Minimum:

References

  1. Geel et al. 2012, p. 401.
  2. Geel et al. 2012, p. 397.
  3. Kilian, Van der Plicht & Van Geel 1995, p. 962.
  4. Kilian, Van der Plicht & Van Geel 1995, p. 959.
  5. Davis, Jirikowic & Kalin 1992, p. 23.
  6. Raspopov, O. M.; Dergachev, V. A.; Gus'kova, E. G.; Kolstrom, T. (2004-12-01). "Development of the Maunder Type of Solar Activity and Their Climatic Response". AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 43: U43A–0739. Bibcode:2004AGUFM.U43A0739R.
  7. Gearey et al. 2020, p. 2.
  8. Rach et al. 2017, p. 45.
  9. Davis, Jirikowic & Kalin 1992, pp. 27-28.
  10. Rach et al. 2017, p. 44.
  11. Słowiński, Michał; Marcisz, Katarzyna; Płóciennik, Mateusz; Obremska, Milena; Pawłowski, Dominik; Okupny, Daniel; Słowińska, Sandra; Borówka, Ryszard; Kittel, Piotr; Forysiak, Jacek; Michczyńska, Danuta J.; Lamentowicz, Mariusz (November 2016). "Drought as a stress driver of ecological changes in peatland – A palaeoecological study of peatland development between 3500 BCE and 200 BCE in central Poland". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 461: 287. Bibcode:2016PPP...461..272S. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.08.038. ISSN 0031-0182.
  12. Laurenz, Ludger; Lüdecke, Horst-Joachim; Lüning, Sebastian (1 April 2019). "Influence of solar activity changes on European rainfall". Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. 185: 30. Bibcode:2019JASTP.185...29L. doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2019.01.012. ISSN 1364-6826.
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Sources

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