What likely triggered Earth’s emergence from its snowball state was the large accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO 2) in the atmosphere released mostly by volcanoes over millions of years. The most recent was about a billion years ago and it lasted for tens of millions of years. “These planets may get a similar amount of light as Earth and the temperature will be above freezing, but unlike Earth, they are trapped in a snowball state where the rest of the planet remains frozen.”Īccording to geological evidence, Earth has entered into a snowball state at least twice. What they found is that if there are areas of dark, bare ground that receive enough sunlight, those regions can be warm enough for liquid water and life, without causing the ice to retreat. “What our research suggests is that snowball planets – that is, those with oceans that are completely covered in sea ice – shouldn’t be excluded as being inhospitable to life.”įor the study, Paradise and his colleagues, including supervisor Kristen Menou, associate professor in the department of physical and environmental sciences at U of T Scarborough and the Centre for Planetary Sciences, ran thousands of three-dimensional computer simulations of planets in the inner habitable zone with Earth-like climates. “When we think of a habitable planet, we tend to imagine a relatively warm place like Earth,” says Adiv Paradise, a PhD candidate in the department of astronomy and astrophysics and lead author of the study. A new University of Toronto study is challenging the definition of what makes a planet hospitable to life, finding that “snowball” planets may harbour the necessary conditions.
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