Mars Transformation Remains Centuries Away, Scientists Confirm
DELAWARE – Despite ongoing research and aspiring proposals, transforming Mars into a habitable planet akin to Earth remains a challenge spanning centuries, potentially millennia, according to experts. The process, known as terraforming, aims to create atmospheric conditions and a surface surroundings conducive to human life and vegetation, including restoring the planet’s long-vanished rivers.
Currently, a major hurdle is the Martian atmosphere’s thinness and frigid temperatures, regularly dropping below -100 degrees Celsius. A thicker atmosphere is crucial not only for retaining heat but also for allowing water to exist in liquid form. Scientists believe increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels could create a greenhouse effect, warming the planet. However, sourcing sufficient CO2 – potentially from Martian rocks or glacial caps – remains unproven. Theoretical calculations have yet to demonstrate enough CO2 exists to achieve the necessary atmospheric density.
More radical proposals, such as inducing volcanic eruptions through controlled asteroid impacts to release trapped CO2, have also been considered.
Generating breathable oxygen presents it’s own difficulties. While genetically modified bacteria and vegetation could theoretically increase oxygen levels, accelerating this process to a timeframe suitable for human habitation would require currently nonexistent, and exceptionally reliable, technology.
The first human footprints on Mars are anticipated within the next decade, but substantial planetary transformation is a far distant prospect. “Certainly nothing that belongs from far to our time,” stated John Byrne, a University of Delaware professor and author on the subject, in Science News.
The long timeline underscores the immense complexity of terraforming and highlights that a second Earth on Mars is not a near-future possibility.
