Salt Played a Crucial Role in Making Earth Habitable, Study Suggests

Salt Played a Crucial Role in , Making Earth Habitable, Study Suggests.
According to new research,
life on Earth may have
been kickstarted by salt.
According to new research,
life on Earth may have
been kickstarted by salt.
'Newsweek' reports that the mineral
played a crucial role in making
the Earth habitable by warming seawater.
Lead author Stephanie Olson, a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, says the findings
could help in the search for extra-terrestrial life.
The presence of salt in seawater can also
have a major impact on the habitability
of Earth and other planets, Stephanie Olson, lead author and a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, via 'Newsweek'.
The team's research, published in the journal 'Geophysical Research Letters,' suggests that life may be common throughout the universe.
This finding may apply to the habitability of other planets as well, potentially allowing life beyond our solar system to exist further from its host star than previously thought, Stephanie Olson, lead author and a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, via 'Newsweek'.
According to the findings, salt alters ocean dynamics and dramatically reduces ice cover.
In combination with higher levels of greenhouse gases a saltier ocean may allow for a warm Archean Earth with only seasonal ice at the poles despite receiving around
20 percent less energy from the Sun, Stephanie Olson, lead author and a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, via 'Newsweek'.
Olson argues that Earth's climate
is closely tied to the chemical
evolution of Earth's ocean.
Saltier oceans yield warmer, more equable
climates with less sea ice in both our
present-day and Archean simulations, Stephanie Olson, lead author and a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, via 'Newsweek'