What Would It Take to Terraform Other Planets?

What if you could turn Mars or Venus into another Earth? Would you do it? That’s the idea behind terraforming, but what does it actually entail? Plus, if this were to happen in the future, what are the odds of something like this succeeding? In the third and final episode about the weather, Julian explores modifying the weather on steroids: terraforming our neighboring planets.

Watch the other episodes in this series:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/t5Z-mrmsS7s

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/0P0Ocv6D2AI

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If you're like us, you’ve played your fair share of video games and in some of them you can build and construct without limitations. You can make whole cities, you can alter the environmental conditions, and do all these things on other worlds. This is basically the idea of terraforming. The line of thinking goes that an environment isn’t suitable for humanity, whether because it’s too hot, too cold, maybe it doesn’t have an atmosphere we can “breathe," so the place is modified to accommodate all of these pressing needs.

One of the first scientists to propose a terraforming project was actually Carl Sagan, yes the Carl Sagan. He published an article in 1961 that involved altering Venus to make it more Earth-like. Before diving into his proposal, if it sounds strange to imagine that such a famous scientist would propose an outlandish idea steeped more in science-fiction than science fact, well here’s a little more context for you.

Scientists had just figured out how to modify the weather about fifteen years earlier with cloud seeding experiments, which is all about modifying clouds to increase precipitation. So, it wasn’t far-fetched to believe this concept could be taken even further to a global level by altering the climate. By the 60s were also when we finally learned more about the conditions on Venus, especially its thick clouds, upending decades of previous thought about the planet.

So in the article, Sagan suggested infusing Venus’ carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere with algae to convert the CO2 into organic compounds, reducing the runaway greenhouse effect, hopefully cooling the planet. Obviously, this proposal never came to fruition and later on, Sagan himself even thought the idea was flawed. Again, terraforming is much easier said than done.

#Weather #Terraforming #Terraform #Mars #Venus #Seeker #SeekerPlus
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Read More:
Can We Terraform Mars to Make It Earth-Like? Not Anytime Soon, Study Suggests
https://www.space.com/41318-we-cant-terraform-mars.html
“ A main staple of many Mars-colonization concepts is terraforming — a hypothetical process of changing the conditions on a planet to make it habitable for life that exists on Earth, including humans, without a need for life-support systems. Unfortunately, according to a new paper, with existing technologies, terraforming Mars is simply not possible.”

The Definitive Guide To Terraforming
https://www.universetoday.com/127311/guide-to-terraforming/
“In recent years, we’ve heard luminaries like Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking claiming that humanity needs a “backup location” to ensure our survival, private ventures like Mars One enlisting thousands of volunteers to colonize the Red Planet, and space agencies like NASA, the ESA, and China discussing the prospect of long-term habitability on Mars or the Moon. From all indications, it looks like terraforming is yet another science-fiction concept that is migrating into the realm of science fact.”

Forget Mars: Let's Terraform Venus Instead!
https://interestingengineering.com/forget-mars-lets-terraform-venus
“Luckily, with the right kind of ecological techniques and some serious elbow grease, Venus could be terraformed into an ocean planet with mild temperatures and endless beachfront property. As with Mars, it comes down to three major goals.”
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Seeker+ is your home for deep dives, fun facts, rabbit holes, and more. Join host Julian Huguet as he unapologetically nerds out on the oddball history, astounding science and intriguing future around topics that will make you the smartest person at your next trivia night.
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