The idea of an asteroid collision triggering an Ice Age on Earth might sound like the plot of a science-fiction blockbuster, but according to a new study, it was once a reality.
Researchers from Lund University have revealed that a collision in the asteroid belt 470 million years ago filled the solar system with dust, leading to a unique ice age on Earth, and subsequently, higher levels of biodiversity.
While this doesn’t exactly sound pleasant, scientists are considering recreating a similar situation, in the hopes of tackling global warming.
The researchers believe that the asteroid was around 150km wide, and was crushed between Jupiter and Mars, spreading dust throughout the solar system.
(Image: Don Davis, Southwest Research Institute)
The dust partially stopped sunlight from reaching Earth, and as a result, the climate changed form being more or less the same across the globe, to becoming divided into climate zones.
This allowed a diverse range of life to thrive, according to the researchers.
One of the most important methods that led to this discovery was the measurement of extraterrestrial helium in the sea floor in southern Sweden. This helium was incorporated into the dust from the asteroid as it travelled to Earth, according to the team.
Professor Birger Schmitz, who led the study, said: “This result was completely unexpected. We have during the last 25 years leaned against very different hypotheses in terms of what happened. It wasn’t until we got the last helium measurements that everything fell into place.”
Worryingly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that we’re fast approaching a situation similar to the conditions on Earth just before the asteroid collision.
As a result of this, scientists have come up with a range of weird and wonderful suggestions on how to cool the Earth down – including one scenario very similar to that of 470 million years ago.
Experts have shown that it could be possible to place asteroids in orbit around Earth that continuously release fine dust and partly block sunlight from reaching Earth.
Professor Schmitz added: “Our results show for the first time that such dust at times has cooled Earth dramatically.
“Our studies can give a more detailed, empirical based understanding of how this works, and this in turn can be used to evaluate if model simulations are realistic.”