Terraforming Mars

Terraforming Mars  (by Daein Ballard)

Because living in a biodome (essentially “a box without direct sunlight, wind or rain”) can get old before you do, scientists are searching for a better way to settle in on Mars.

Jessica Orwig of Business Insider reports that terraforming might just be that way.  She defines terraforming as “the process by which humans would alter the global environment of another world to make it resemble the friendly conditions we enjoy here on Earth.”

Creating “comfortable temperatures” would be a top priority.  Carbon dioxide might be the key to this endeavor.  If the right amount (not too little, but not too much) can be found within Martian soil and ice, CO₂ could then be released into the currently-thin atmosphere. 

This CO₂ “blanket” would increase the planet’s warmth, hopefully to a degree that humans can easily withstand.  Then all we’d have to worry about is suffocation and dehydration.

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/theres-one-crucial-number-could-173520301.html

Copyright June 22, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved