In the future, humanity may need more space and Mars is a possible target for colonization. Terraforming Mars involves increasing atmospheric pressure, adding oxygen, and keeping the atmosphere warm. One proposed method involves introducing large amounts of CFCs to raise the temperature and cause CO2 to sublimate. Over time, algae and bacteria would spread, turning the soil green and increasing heat absorption. Eventually, liquid water could form and humans could survive outdoors with an oxygen tank. Terraforming Mars could take decades or centuries, but many believe it would be worth it.
In the long run, many people believe humanity will need more space. While the Earth is likely to hold many more billions of people without crowding, as long as the productivity of agriculture is increased and a transition to renewable energy is made, eventually people may need to live off the planet. The most obvious target for such colonization is Mars, which is only 60% farther from the Sun than Earth, and is the only inland planet other than Earth that has a mild temperature and pressure. The surface area of Mars is about 29% that of the Earth, an area comparable to that of all the continents combined, including Antarctica. Some basic schemes for terraforming Mars involve raising the temperature and atmospheric pressure on the planet and finding ways to release water and oxygen.
The hypothetical process of making another planet look more like Earth has been called terraforming, and terraforming Mars is an often-mentioned possibility in discussions of terraforming. To make Mars habitable for humans and life on earth, three major changes are needed. First, the pressure in the atmosphere must have increased, since the pressure on the surface of Mars is only about 1/100th that of Earth. The atmosphere would also need the addition of oxygen. Secondly, the atmosphere must be kept warm. A warm atmosphere would melt the vast amounts of water ice on Mars, solving the third problem, the lack of water.
The terraforming of Mars, building its atmosphere, could be initiated by raising its temperature, which would cause the planet’s vast CO2 ice reserves to sublimate and turn into atmospheric gas. The current average temperature on Mars is -51°F (-46°C), with lows of -125°F (-87°C), which means that all water and much carbon dioxide are permanently frozen. The simplest way to raise the temperature appears to be to introduce large amounts of CFCs – chlorofluorocarbons, a highly effective greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere, which could be done by sending rockets full of compressed CFCs on a collision course with Mars.
After the impact, CFCs would drift through Mars’ atmosphere, causing a greenhouse effect that would raise temperatures, causing CO2 to sublimate and further continuing atmospheric warming and accumulation. The sublimation of the gas would generate massive winds, which would raise large quantities of dust particles, which would further heat the planet by direct absorption of the sun’s rays. After a few years, the largest dust storms would subside and the planet could become habitable for some types of algae and bacteria, which would serve as precursors to all other life forms. In an environment without competitors and rich in CO2, they would thrive. This would be the biggest step in terraforming Mars.
Over time, the algae and bacteria would have spread across the planet, turning the soil green, which would reduce Mars’ albedo or reflectivity, thus absorbing even more heat. Eventually, the temperature in many areas would exceed that of the freezing point of water, and the atmospheric pressure would rise due to all the gases released, crossing that magic line where the formation of liquid water becomes possible. At this point, humans on the planet would need little more than an oxygen tank to survive outdoors. In the long term, large amounts of oxygen could be released from the processing of oxide metals present on the surface. Terraforming Mars could take decades or even centuries, but many believe the new space it has given us would be worth it.
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