#655 Portrise

 Fun Fact #655

PortRise

 As Heraclitus once said “You Cannot step in the same river twice” and that statement about change has held true ever since it was first uttered in 470BC. A notable example of this would include The Medieval Climate Anomaly. The MCP was a Global event during 950-1250AD which mildly affected global temperatures but greatly affected the Northern Atlantic Ocean by raising temperatures particularly around Northern Europe. 

On paper this doesn’t sound all that interesting but in reality it shifted the currents of power to this region since much milder winters meant longer growing seas, less illness from the cold, and most important to this week’s theme the Seas were easier to navigate even during winter. As a result the North Sea grew a number of influential port cities Ravenser Odd , Dunwich Harbor, Rungholt (Island of Strand), and even the Port of Aalborg (one of the last to benefit from the wealth of this period) which celebrates its 550th year in operation this year (2026). Aalborg today is Denmark’s largest inland port sitting at a strategic point near where the North and Baltic Seas meet and handles more than 3 million tons of cargo every year. 

Alas, all good things must come to an end and and so the MCP is thought to have ended in 1250 with the start of “The Little Ice Age” having followed it although the two blended together for a couple hundred years as the climate transitioned between them which makes the exact line a bit blurry. The Little Ice Age actually ended recently (relatively) around 1850 which has helped explain why global temperatures are slowly on the rise today as we enter yet another warm period. 

View of the modern Port of Aalborg as seen from Skovbakken hill.