Glaciers May Have Covered the Entire Planet—Twice

This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine.

The Earth has endured many changes in its 4.5-billion-year history, with some tumultuous twists and turns along the way. One especially dramatic episode appears to have come between 700 million and 600 million years ago, when scientists think ice smothered the entire planet, from the poles to the equator—twice in quick succession. 

Drawing on evidence across multiple continents, scientists say these Snowball Earth events may have paved the way for the Cambrian explosion of life that followed—the period when complex, multicellular organisms began to diversify and spread across the planet. 

When Caltech geologist Joe Kirschvink coined the term Snowball Earth in 1989—merging ideas that some geologists, climate physicists and planetary chemists had been thinking about for decades—many earth scientists were skeptical that these cataclysmic events could really have occurred. But with mounting evidence in support of the theory and new data that help pin down the timing of events, more scientists have warmed up to the idea. 

, a geologist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, has helped pioneer Snowball Earth research over the past 25 years. Among spoke with Hoffman, who recounts his life work in the , about the evolution of the Snowball Earth theory and what questions remain. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.