1618 - Witch-hunts peaked – Accusing men and women of causing inclement weather

Witch-hunts peaked between 1600 and 1618, and one of the most common accusations against men and women purported to be witches was that they caused inclement weather. Economist Emily Oster in her senior thesis at Harvard University, holds that the most active era of witchcraft trials in Europe coincided with the 400-year period of lower-than-average temperature as the Little Ice Age. Oster showed that as the climate varied from year to year during this cold period, lower temperatures correlated with higher numbers of witchcraft accusations.

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