Snowball Earth Theory: Asteroid Strikes Potentially Turned Our Planet Into Frozen Landscape Between 720 and 635 Million Years Ago [Study]

Asteroid strikes on Earth in the past have been found to potentially turn our planet into a frozen landscape at certain points in time, approximately between 720 million and 635 million years ago, according to a new study led by scientists in the United States and Austria. The researchers called the phenomena "Snowball Earth" episodes, which are events where most of Earth's surface is covered in ice and are somehow similar to the ice age periods.

However, unlike the ice age phenomena, the Snowball Earth theory suggests that asteroid strikes long before the dinosaurs caused a global cooling of the planet, where meteor impacts blocked sunlight. Based on the new research paper, this cooling phenomenon occurred at least twice during the mentioned period and before the Cambrian explosion or the Biological Big Bang over 500 million years ago.

The findings of the study confirm the potential capability of space rocks such as asteroids to cause not only immediate impacts, including shockwaves and tsunamis but also secondary repercussions like the global cooling of the planet.

Although scientists know that the Chicxulub asteroid wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and almost all life on Earth 66 million years ago, there was no mention that Earth turned into a giant snowball.

Snowball Earth Theory

It has long been theorized that Earth fell into a state of deep freeze at least twice between 750 and 600 million years ago, a period known as the Cryogenian Period, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) back in 2021. Since then, scientists have contested about the potential causes of Earth's ancient freezes and subsequent thaws, attributing volcanoes could behind the phenomena.

Now, a new study published in the journal Science Advances on February 9 further explores the Snowball Earth theory and asserts that asteroid strikes could be the reason behind the global freezing event of our planet. The authors of the research paper also shed light on the possibility that the same phenomenon could happen again in the future. Yet, other natural factors could be at play for Earth to suddenly freeze.

Based on the recent scientific report, a gargantuan winter occurred following an asteroid impact on Earth comparable to the size of the Chicxulub asteroid. This could have led to "runaway ice-albedo feedback" and the freezing event known as "global glaciation." The researchers arrived at their conclusion by using a unique atmosphere-ocean climate model.

Asteroid Strikes

Asteroid strikes have been relatively a common phenomenon since Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago. Still, planet-killing asteroids that can cause mass extinction events are very rare, at least based on available records. In light of the February 2024 study, new evidence shows that asteroid impacts can even alter the planet's climate for an extremely long period.

On a daily average, Earth is bombarded by more than 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles. Annually, an automobile-sized asteroid enters our planet's atmosphere. Every 2,000 years, a meteor the size of a football field comes to Earth.

However, a space object large enough to threaten humanity comes along every once every few million years, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).