Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson
Have you read the "Red Mars" trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson?
Do you think his vision for the terraforming of Mars and other bodies in the Solar System, will ever come to pass? Will it be a good thing?
Thanks for that, I'd not heard of the Robert Zubin book, I'll have to look out for that.
I do not see Mars being made exactly like Earth, it is too small and devoid of a significant magnetic field. It's possible that it could be made a lot more tolerable for humans, animals of some sorts and for plants. This would involve heating the planet which would thicken the atmosphere. Thickening the atmosphere would lead to more heating and a feed back loop might improve conditions to the point where pressure suits might not be needed though an air supply might be. People might be able to move about on the surface with warm clothing and an air supply, possibly with greater comfort than Everest climbers.
I have read Mr. Robinson's books, some of the technologies he suggests are not with us but are the sort of thing that might be developed if researched. Others seem unlikely. One possibility he did not explore is seeding the Martian pole caps with dark colored algae that can tolerate cold. If these grew well, they could cover the caps and absorb more sunlight.
Another source with greater technical detail is "The Case for Mars" by Robert Zubrin. In the last chapter he discusses the apparent fact that Mars is just below a critical temperature which keeps it frozen. Heating the planet by about 4 centigrade could cause most of the CO2 in the polar caps to sublime into the atmosphere, that would add a great deal to Mars green house effect. This could lead to temperatures in the 'tropical' regions' being over 0 centigrade most of the Martian year, anything up to 20 centigrade which means liquid water might form in large quantities.
As for Venus, I do not believe much can be done. If vast amounts of the Venus atmosphere could be removed the planet's temperature could drop, but where you would put the gas and how you would remove it is beyond anything forseeable. Maybe a wormhole to carry some of the gas to Mercury?
Would making Mars more tolerable be a good idea? I cannot see how it would not be.
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Kim Stanley Robinson On Google and Climate Change
