<P> Some researchers have proposed that human influences on climate began earlier than is normally supposed (see Early anthropocene for more details) and that major population declines in Eurasia and the Americas reduced this impact, leading to a cooling trend . William Ruddiman has proposed that somewhat reduced populations of Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East during and after the Black Death caused a decrease in agricultural activity . He suggests reforestation took place, allowing more carbon dioxide uptake from the atmosphere, which may have been a factor in the cooling noted during the Little Ice Age . Ruddiman further hypothesizes that a reduced population in the Americas after European contact in the early sixteenth century could have had a similar effect . Faust, Gnecco, Mannstein and Stamm (2005), and Nevle (2011) supported depopulation in the Americas as a factor, asserting that humans had cleared considerable amounts of forest to support agriculture in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans brought on a population collapse . A 2008 study of sediment cores and soil samples further suggests that carbon dioxide uptake via reforestation in the Americas could have contributed to the Little Ice Age . The depopulation is linked to a drop in carbon dioxide levels observed at Law Dome, Antarctica . </P> <P> It has been speculated that increased human populations living at high latitudes caused the Little Ice Age through deforestation . The increased albedo due to this deforestation (more reflection of solar rays from snow - covered ground than dark, tree - covered area) could have had a profound effect on global temperatures . </P> <P> Spontaneous fluctuations in global climate might explain past variability . It is very difficult to know what the true level of variability from internal causes might be given the existence of other forcings, as noted above, whose magnitude may not be known . One approach to evaluating internal variability is to use long integrations of coupled ocean - atmosphere global climate models . They have the advantage that the external forcing is known to be zero, but the disadvantage is that they may not fully reflect reality . The variations may result from chaos - driven changes in the oceans, the atmosphere, or interactions between the two . Two studies have concluded that the demonstrated inherent variability is not great enough to account for the Little Ice Age . </P>

What was the result of the little ice age