Earth has a population of more than six billion people. As this number continues to grow, the populated land masses fill up, and it seems that eventually they will all be overcrowded. Certain areas are already showing this overpopulation, such as large American cities including Los Angeles and New York City. Some countries do not suffer from overcrowding due to high population, but to a high ratio of population to resources. As the natural resources of an area are depleted, the quality of life of the people who live there decreases. If the human race is to prosper as a whole, there must be enough resources to support the global population. In order to support our increasing population, we must learn to harness new resources.
Some scientists are considering the possibilty of learning to inhabit other planets. This plan includes a process called terraforming, which is defined as "transforming a planet into something resembling the earth, especially as regards to human habitation." This is widely thought of as "Science Fiction" - but 50 years ago so was just about everything that is commonplace today.
What alternatives do we have? Are there any planets out there that are like enough to earth that they could be so transformed?
The body most commonly thought of in association with terraforming is Mars. There are several reasons Mars is looked upon favorably. The gravity on Mars is about 0.38 g, compared to 1 g on Earth. It is believed that humans could live in such a gravity without any side effects like bone shrinkage. The day on Mars is about 24.5 hours, compared to 24 hours on Earth. This means that there wouldn't be any agricultural problems relating to day length. There are large quantities of rust (FE203) which woul...
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...sing the temperature by 10 K to start this whole process wouldn't be enough to create a comfortable climate. The savage dust storms on Mars will still exist, as well as some carbon dioxide. It seems there are many different ideas for what sort of material would be required to construct a usable biodome. Over the years people have speculated over the use of glass, metal, plastic, etc.
It is speculated that once the process of terraforming is begun, it will take decades to complete. With the technology we have available to us today, the scientific community is divided as to whether it will ever be possible.
Works Cited:
On To Mars! http://www.geocities.com/marsterraforming
The Nine Planets http://www.nineplanets.org
Red Colony http://www.redcolony.com
Nasa http://www.nasa.gov
The Terraforming Information pages http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg
Earth has served as a good home for humans for many years, and will most likely
From Venus’s atmosphere, we can see that a stronger greenhouse effect would create a barren, volcanic wasteland unable to sustain life. Such a greenhouse effect could even be man-made through the human production of CO2 and Earth has already noticed a greenhouse effect forming, though it is much less damaging than Venus’. Similarly, Mars’ lack of an ozone layer shows us what our own thinning ozone layer could mean for hydrogen atoms within Earth’s atmosphere and water, and also demonstrates how a planet’s size and distance from the sun could have affected Earth and made life on it impossible. Through the thinning of our atmosphere, Earth could suffer from the same effects plaguing its neighbor, Mars
The question of colonizing Mars has become not a matter of ability, but one of ethics. Mars’s climate is much weaker than Earth’s. We should colonize mars but only in the right way – a way that does not alter the natural climate of Mars. While different people argue the different effects humans have had on Earth, there is no denying that we have made an impact on the environment that we live in. Many believe that if we set foot on another planet, we will affect its environment negatively. However, there is a fine line between disrupting the environment of a foreign planet and utilizing it. We should colonize Mars but going in with the knowledge we have of Earth and take measures to ensure that Mars can’t be deteriorated as easily and if
"Earth Could be 'Unrecognizable' by 2050." DNews. N.p., 20 Feb. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. .
As a human race I could not with a good conscious say that we have all done that is possible to preserve our planet. I believe it partially should be blamed on our lack of knowledge on how we are actually affecting it. If you ask the common college student results prove that most would say they care to a certain extent. However, they also know that they are just one person in this world. Therefore, I believe this would be an excellent article for The Shorthorn. Geologist might say that it is too late to turn back from what has already been done. Simply buying a Prius or turning off the air conditioning won’t save our Earth. The fact of the matter is that “this civilization is already dead.” Now the key
Mars is our next best hope in life on another planet. Because of science mankind can grow and harvest plants in the modified mars soil, make a thick warm atmosphere, and drink no frozen mars water. Mankind can grow and flourish more as a species with this idea of colonizing mars. With more scientific advancements we can colonize mars and we will colonize mars.
...easing population. Such research could include the search for other Earth-like planets in the galaxy. Already, NASA’s Keplar telescope has discovered three other planets capable of supporting life (Mike). Without expansion into outer space, humans might eventually destroy themselves as a result of a strain on resources, or infighting over land. This is the direction of aerospace research.
The title “Anthropocene” is officially a theoretical one as scientists are still debating upon its legitimacy. The earth has entered a new geological epoch dominated by humanity. This epoch has been coined the Anthropocene. The term is relatively new in the scope of things as it was suggested by Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen in 2002 that we had left the time period previously we thought to be in ,the Holocene, and had entered the now thought to be current time period, The Anthropocene (Zalasiewicz). The reason for this change in epoch is the ever increasing effect of mankind upon our environment and the seemingly impossibility to find something unobstructed by mankind’s extensive reach. The skeptical attitude toward the Anthropocene is due in part to the Earths vast size; consequently, it is difficult for changes that humans have made to be permanent(Brown). While permanent topographic changes are unlikely, due to unpredictable natural occurrences in addition to weathering and erosion, some changes have a much more prolonged existence such as radioactive matter. An occurrence of this would be uranium-238 which contains a half life of 4.47 billion years.(Brown) The explanation behind humans unparalleled effect on the earth is the exponential increase in population in recent history, the population has increased from under 1 billion in the early nineteenth century to over 6 billion (Zalasiewicz) .This...
The issue investigated in this essay is whether or not the planet Kepler-186f should be terraformed and colonised by humans. Kepler-186f is located in the Kepler-186 system, around 500 light years away from Earth. It is the first Earth-sized planet found in the habitable zone, meaning that it orbits its host star at a distance where liquid water would be able to exist (NASA, 2015). Considering this, the question of whether or not it would be able to sustain human life comes to mind. Not enough is known about the planet, so there is a possibility that Kepler-186f would be forced to be terraformed first in order to allow humans to colonise.
Populating another planet could help solve the population crisis and climate change simultaneously. Though, it seems we are not at that point currently, which is exactly why it is imperative that the government increase funding for space exploration. Now, even if inter-galactic habitation isn’t possible, space research helps us protect ourselves from asteroids and other threats, and could also be used to find other planetary resources. Nonetheless, it seems space research is of utmost significance if we want to continue living as a species.
The recent events regarding the NASA Mars probes have renewed the debate of reinstalling manned space missions with the objectives of exploring and landing on foreign worlds such as the moon and the red planet Mars, rather than the use of solely robotic craft and machines. It is my belief that we should return to the days of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, those of manned lunar landings and manned space exploration. Robots simply cannot and should not be allowed to be the sole means of visiting these worlds, nor should humans only be able to witness new findings second hand through the use of computers and machines. It is human nature to be normally curious of one’s surroundings, and it is important that we send one of our own to new worlds. The effects that past missions have had on the world’s people, as well as our political and cultural climates are another valid reason for flesh instead of metal to lay claim to space. Also, the limitless applications and new education that manned flights can bring to us from on site human interactions could lead to another technological and industrial revolution like the original lunar programs had done for us during the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Terraforming is “the purposeful alteration of the physical environment to increase its habitability for humans.” (David, Leonard). The planet Mars could be terraformed more easily than other planets because it is believed to be the planet most like Earth. Hundreds of millions of years ago, Mars had an environment more like Earth’s, with a thicker atmosphere and more water. (Terraforming of Mars). Additionally, other similarities between the two planets are found in their temperature ranges, the presence of water, and the length of their days.
...ess can make you sick. Meaning that because humans are so adapted to the conditions here on Earth, such a drastic change will make them sick. Adaptation will have to occur, meaning that the stations on Mars might have to some how mimic the conditions of Earth.
Overpopulation is a growing problem all over the world. This is a very important environmental issue and needs to be dealt with. This environmental problem is affecting many countries around the world, but mostly the poor and impoverished countries that don’t have the resources to help deal with these issues. It also affects the environment like plants, animal life and air quality. When the population of people expands we need more natural resources from the environment, so we consume more than we can produce.
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.