Terraforming

Each year the Earth becomes more polluted, and the environment becomes more destroyed. The earth is covered by nearly 70 percent water, and this number is growing due to the rising temperatures and the melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers. The amount of habitable environment for the human race on earth is shrinking quickly, and with a world population that continues to grow at an increasing rate, the human race may soon face the same issue that many species of animals also face- habitat loss. What possible solution could there be to this problem? Well, many people believe that the human race may need to look for other worlds to sustain life. Finding a planet capable of supporting life is extremely difficult, however the idea of terraforming could be the solution to this problem. Terraforming, or planetary engineering, is the idea of changing another world’s environment, so that it can be habitable to humans. Terraforming could turn a hostile planet into one that humans can survive on. 

Where would we terraform? 

Figure 1: Mars, as seen from
2500 kilometers away

Finding a good candidate for terraforming is very hard, however, Earth's neighbor Mars is on the short list of potential candidates for terraforming. As you may know, Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system, right after Earth. Mars is also the second smallest planet in the solar system, following Mercury. Often called the Red Planet, Mars gets its reddish color from an abundance of iron oxide, which can even be seen by the naked eye (refer to figure 1). Mars is often considered to be the planet most likely to host life, due to it having very similar orbital periods to Earth, which leads some scientists to believe Mars could have Earth-like seasons. Mars and Earth also share some similar landscapes, as they both have valleys, deserts, mountains, and even polar ice caps. 

Why can't we live on Mars already?

Mars may be our neighbor, however it has very different conditions than the Earth. For instance, Mars currently has “[l]ow atmospheric pressure and surface temperature combined with relatively high levels of ultraviolet and ionizing radiation”, which together make it impossible for organic life to survive on the surface of Mars (2). At its coldest, Mars can get down to -195 degrees fahrenheit, which is almost 70 degrees colder than the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth. All of these factors combined make Mars a very hostile environment, and certainly one that humans cannot currently survive under. 

How to Terraform Mars

Terraforming was once thought of as strictly science fiction material, rather than a reality. However, scientists have recently become more optimistic about the possibility of terraforming Mars, due to a discovery regarding extremophilic organisms. An extremophilic organism is one that can survive under extreme environmental living conditions. The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is one exciting extremophilic organism for scientists. This bacterium can be found on Earth in such places as sewage systems and animal fecal material. It is believed that this bacterium can be used to help humans terraform Mars, since D. radiodurans can survive such hostile conditions, it is thought that it can help detoxify the soil of Mars. This would only occur on very small-scale situations, however, if this were to come true, it could mean for the beginning of life on Mars. 

What does this mean for humans?

The terraforming of Mars means several things for the human race. If the human race finds success with terraforming another planet, it could allow for us to relocate and for people to leave the Earth. Why would anyone want to do this? Well, every year the Earth faces increasing amounts of pollution, eventually, this pollution might destroy our world, which means that one day we might need to find a new one to live on. If terraforming Mars is successful, it would allow for people to leave Earth, and it could one day save the human race. 

References

1. Kte’pi, B. (2015). Mars. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com

2.Mars: Extreme Planet. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/extreme/

3. Slotnick, R. S.. (2000). EXTREMOPHILIC TERRAFORMING. American Scientist, 88(2), 124–125. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27857990