A group of scientists has put forward a novel idea about how the temperature of Mars, Earth’s planetary neighbor could be increased. These particles would help heat up the planet by acting like aerosols to trap and release the heat and reflect back some sunrays on Martian surface. The goal is to intensify Mars’ natural greenhouse effect in 10 years, so that it increases its average surface temperature by approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius).
However, the researchers behind it have not claimed that such an attempt will make Mars suitable for humans but they believe that this can be taken as the first step toward making it habitable. The term “Terraforming” means changing a planet’s atmosphere to make it similar to earth’s. In the case of mars, heating the planet is one thing but not enough in itself. Other proposals have concentrated on increasing levels of greenhouse gases however; these processes need enormous resources which are scarce in Mars.
Kite said, “Our paper presents two main ideas; warming Mars’ atmosphere using engineered nanoparticles and climatic modelling that demonstrates their potential superiority over other methods.” This is important since it shows a feasible way forward for modifying climate on mars that will be helpful in future mars exploration programs.
Amongst its inhospitable conditions such as lack of oxygen to breathe, salty soil, frequent dust storms and dangerous ultra violet rays affecting life forms, tackling coldness is considered vital towards human occupation.
Samaneh Ansari who was working with Northwestern University as her lead author expressed optimism when she said she hoped other scholars will also look into this matter more deeply than we did.
This proposal includes releasing small rod-shaped particles called nanorods into the Martian atmosphere continuously at a rate reminiscent of eight gallons per second for an extended period. It therefore suggests having either shipping or better still sending the fabrication tool used to produce nanorods directly from earth’s iron rich soils or aluminium ores found there at the surface of Mars.
However, the researchers understand that turning another planet into a place where humans can live might have other unforeseen outcomes. They also agree with the need to investigate whether there has ever been life on mars as well as its subsurface microbes and therefore require their environment to be highly protected. Kite said “We are unsure about what nanoparticles could mean for Mars; this is because we cannot tell if benefits will outstrip future costs or not.”
