[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Amplified cooling of Snowball Earth from a salt-albedo feedback

Samuelsberg et al., 2026, Climate of the Past — Climatology

Patterns: [Distinctions](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/distinctions), [Relationships](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/relationships)

## In short

A self-reinforcing causal feedback loop, once a temperature threshold is crossed, locks the climate system into one of two qualitatively distinct stable states.

## What they found (results)

A climate model shows that below roughly -36°C, salt precipitating from sublimating sea ice raises surface albedo to about 0.93, reinforcing further cooling and producing two distinct hysteresis states, with the colder salt-covered state implicated in the initial Snowball Earth transition.

## Abstract

It is believed that the atmospheric circulation on Snowball Earth produced a net ablation zone exposing bare sea ice. Under sufficiently low temperatures, salt begins to precipitate out of sea ice, forming a lag deposit of crystals with high albedo as the ice sublimates. This could have resulted in a salt-albedo feedback that has not previously been included in modeling studies of Snowball Earth. We implement a salt-albedo feedback in a simple climate model and show that, once initiated, this mechanism could have intensified global cooling in the initial phase of Snowball Earth. Our results suggest that salt precipitation may have played a role in shaping the early climate of Snowball Earth.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1499-2026)