• The famous painting below depicts George Washington crossing the Delaware River in Trenton, New Jersey in December, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. The painting shows large ice floes in the Delaware River, which rarely freezes today.

Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) by Emanuel Gottlieb Luezte, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, United States of America.

How is this related to climate?

• This painting is based on an event that took place during the Little Ice Age. The ice floes depicted on the Delaware River formed due to an average drop in global temperature during this time. 

References and additional resources

• Prothero, D. R. and Dott, R. H. Evolution of the Earth (8th ed). New York, McGraw-Hill Education, 2010.