Beginning in 1580, average annual temperatures across the Arctic cooled amid the regional onset of the “Grindelwald Fluctuation,” a particularly cold but volatile period in the Little Ice Age. By contributing to socioeconomic trends that raised the cost of vegetable oils, climatic cooling encouraged European merchants to establish rival whaling operations around the frigid archipelago of Svalbard, roughly halfway between Norway and the North Pole. From 1611 until 1619, European whalers depended on temporary encampments set up along the shores of bays in the islands of Svalbard, and eventually the nearby island of Jan Mayen. When regional sea ice registered the climatic trends of the Grindelwald Fluctuation by besetting these bays, whalers from different European nations and companies coped by cooperating with one another. Yet when the volatility of the Grindelwald Fluctuation in the already variable climate of Svalbard and Jan Mayen drew ice away from these bays, violence often broke out between rival whalers and their escorting warships. Shifting environmental circumstances therefore played a previously ignored role in inciting and mitigating violence in the first decade of the Spitsbergen whaling industry. These relationships can offer new perspectives on the future of geopolitical competition in a warming Arctic.

中文翻译：

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鲸鱼之战：17 世纪初的气候变化、天气和北极冲突

从 1580 年开始，随着“格林德瓦波动”的区域性开始，整个北极的年平均气温下降，这是小冰河时代特别寒冷但动荡的时期。通过促进提高植物油成本的社会经济趋势，气候变冷鼓励欧洲商人在大约位于挪威和北极之间的寒冷群岛斯瓦尔巴群岛周围建立竞争对手的捕鲸业务。从 1611 年到 1619 年，欧洲捕鲸者依靠在斯瓦尔巴群岛和附近的扬马延岛的海湾沿岸建立的临时营地。当区域海冰通过包围这些海湾来记录格林德瓦波动的气候趋势时，来自不同欧洲国家和公司的捕鲸者通过相互合作来应对。然而，当斯瓦尔巴群岛和扬马延岛本已多变的气候中格林德瓦波动的波动性使这些海湾的冰块远离时，敌对捕鲸者与其护航军舰之间经常爆发暴力。因此，在斯匹次卑尔根捕鲸业的第一个十年中，不断变化的环境环境在煽动和减轻暴力方面发挥了以前被忽视的作用。这些关系可以为北极变暖中地缘政治竞争的未来提供新的视角。因此，在斯匹次卑尔根捕鲸业的第一个十年中，不断变化的环境环境在煽动和减轻暴力方面发挥了以前被忽视的作用。这些关系可以为北极变暖中地缘政治竞争的未来提供新的视角。因此，在斯匹次卑尔根捕鲸业的第一个十年中，不断变化的环境环境在煽动和减轻暴力方面发挥了以前被忽视的作用。这些关系可以为北极变暖中地缘政治竞争的未来提供新的视角。