The Great Famine coincided with a trough in solar activity known as the Wolf Minimum (1280–1350). Most climatologists agree that lower solar activity produces cooler global temperatures. The primary cause of crop failures in Europe north of the Alps is cool and wet weather, which delays the ripening of crops and increases the chance that they will rot before being harvested. Other periods of low solar activity, including the Spörer Minimum (1460–1550) and the Maunder Minimum (1645–1715), are also correlated with cooler-than-average temperatures and incidences of crop failure.
