NationStates Jolt Archive

Lets supose we could actually terraform Mars at present. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraformation

What are your views on it? Should we do it? No? Why?

Yeah, cause we're fucking up this planet enough....

But it takes hundreds-thousands of years so....

God no.

No, we've already ruined this planet and it will just encourage more population. Mars will be ruined. Maybe a small base for research, but that's about it.

as long as no country tries to annex it then yes, a small part for an experiment

No, we've already ruined this planet and it will just encourage more population. Mars will be ruined. Maybe a small base for research, but that's about it.

...Tell me, why would Mars be of any significance in its current shape? It's completely barren and inhospitable. There's no real nature to it, besides "dead" rock.

Why shouldn't we terraform the barren rock to suit us, the highest species of this stellar system?

We should out all the problems on THIS planet before we go to an other one.

But once we got our Enviorment sorted out, why not?

the highest species of this stellar system?

We might be the smartest, but we're still no better than a virus.
We adapt to environments then pollute and proliferate.

We should only start fucking with other worlds once we're capable of controlling ourselves and our own world. It's like letting a fat person buy an ice cream shop: he shouldn't own one until he is thin and has his eating habits under control.

We should out all the problems on THIS planet before we go to an other one.
A lot of the problems on this planet would be easily solved if we could shoot certain individuals/corporate bodies off to some other planet.

of course, these things are here for our using and it is up to us as a human race to better our sorroundings and better our race. whats the point of keeping a giant useless rock circling the sun for if your not going to utilize it in some way.

Whenever this question pops up, people always come out with the usual "Lets not mess another planet up!" hysteria. There's nothing on Mars to ruin. Now I personally think that the whole idea of terraforming Mars is a little pie in the sky. But if it is ever possible, then I don't see why not. Even if there was some primitive life on Mars millions of years ago, I doubt there is now. So we might as well terraform it, it's not like it's of any use to anyone in its current form. I would see no sound reason not to.

It's like letting a fat person buy an ice cream shop: he shouldn't own one until he is thin and has his eating habits under control.

you assume the fat man is fat because of his eating habits.

pollution is natural accuring thing and the earth (perhaps mars) can take care of it. it takes longer for some pollution then for others. pollution has already gotten a whole lot better since the 70's but yet the earth is still warming. maybe perhaps because its a natural occuring system

Why not? Its not like anyone is using it.

Why not? The technological and economic windfall of such an action could be immense...besides, it'll give us a blank canvas to plan settlement on in a way far more friendly to the planet than our civilization on Earth has been able to.

Population growth isn't a bad thing, and neither is economic expansion; they drive technology and lead to improved living standards with the ultimate result being a levelling off of population and steady growth....perhaps we can test different strategies of planning and sustainable growth on Mars as a model for Earth and any other future planets.

Sounds like a waste of money. But it would be nice to have somewhere to flee to when we break this planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraformation

Have to say yay! for Jack Williamson - still writing at the age of 98.

Sounds like a waste of money. But it would be nice to have somewhere to flee to when we break this planet.

holy shit, and people say the republicans use the fear tactic. just from this thread alone it appears the likings of al gore have many of you wrapped around their fingers scared of the extinction of the planet

Too bad they didn't start 5 years ago when they planned. By the time I was 60 they could have had pine trees on the planet by then.

Of all the counter-arguments I have ever heard, this argument against terraforming Mars is the most incomprehensible one I have ever heard.

So the Earth is currently in the midst of some climactic difficulty, why on Earth does that mean we should not try again? It's like breaking a plate one time and then vowing to eat from your hands from then on.

And then we have a duty to propagate our race. Not just a biological duty, but a moral duty. Humanity is the only species to have ever arose on this planet that has been able to improve the situation of life. All other animals are mindless shit-eating entropy machines, Humans invent medicine, Humans invent democracy, Humans are able to feel love and compassion.

Mars is a dead icy rock. Why on earth (pun intended) do people believe that it is worth conserving? You might as well just say that a kitchen fire is worth conserving, the effect is the same, it is still maintaining an environment that is unfit for human habitation for no good reason.

Finally, this is an argument that should appeal to environmentalists, surely you must realise how precocious life on this world is? A meteor could strike at any time and mankind (not to mention many other species) would be extinct. Surely it would be beneficial to have a back-up world just in case the worst happened.

Why not? Its not like anyone is using it.
Ditto

I've got to agree with the terraforming proponents. This talk of "we already ruined the Earth, we shouldn't wreck another planet" is silly.
For one, I personally did not precipitate the industrial revolution. Sure I'm a grubby little homo sapien (still waiting for the mother ship to come down and inform me otherwise, though, that'd be sweet!) who goes around eating plants and other animals, and sure I consume natural resources. Well, darlings, that is an accident of evolution and I won't shoulder any blame for being carbon-based. While I don't ascribe to any divine favour for our species, we nevertheless find ourselves very near the top of the food chain (just below worms) and there's no point in flagellating ourselves or feeling guilty for it. I agree that we have a responsibility to be conscientious omnivores, if nothing else than for our sustainability as a species, but saying everyone today should just feel awful and welcome stagnation or death because our ancestors hundreds of years ago discovered coal power, or invented the combustion engine, and didn't/couldn't realise at the time the long-term implications... well that's foolish.
And for the other, it's true. Mars is a rock. It isn't some pristine wilderness full of flora and fauna-- it's a cold, barren, dirty lump of rock with no one to disturb or displace. How could trying to bring life to a vacant space where there was none before be 'ruining' it? And I don't think it's too much of a stretch to assume-- given the rate at which we've been recogising and trying to correct our past mistakes on Earth-- that in the time it would take us to make Mars habitable, we would have found ways to live there sustainably. It would/will take *thousands* of years... it's taken us only a couple hundred to figure out the ramifications of fossil-fuels (and incidentally-- do you think we're going to take fossil fuels with us to Mars? or find them on Mars once we get there?). And on top of that, in order to settle Mars we'd need the kind of resources that'll only be effectively mustered by a well-run, unified world community. A project on the scale of terraforming won't be accomplished by individual nation-states or corporations, warlords or CEOs. So the whole planet isn't going to be commodified by some greedy company or imperialistic country. We've long taken the Earth for granted because we 'got it' in good condition. Settling Mars would take work-- a colossal amount of work, work that would be wasted on reckless over-exploitation. A blue and green Mars will only be the work of the Earth, and by the time we can pull it off, I think we'll be mature and reasonable enough not to spoil our accomplishment.

Terraform Mars? why not. all this talk about pollution and "breaking" the planet is hogwash. if you care that much about the planet, then terraform mars and move the population off Earth to give it a chance to heal. knowing what we know now, we can probably bypass many known technologial stages where pollutions occured and perhaps not cause as much "damage" to Mars.

I don't see what the problem would be. It is almost a dead planet, so it's not like we'd be harming anything. If we can do it, then go right ahead.

Yes, its possible with mars and Venus. but it would be nastily hard

Why should we terraform it? A lot of problems that terraforming would fix can be fixed in other ways. We don't need Mars.

Why should we terraform it? A lot of problems that terraforming would fix can be fixed in other ways. We don't need Mars.
Wrong, sir! Wrong!

We need a backup planet, for population purposes, technological research, and redundancy. Further, we should be looking outwards as well to other solar systems, for in five billion years this system will be useless for human life.

*snip*

*bows*