Terraforming Mars

Description:  Aside from ethical concerns, turning the planet Mars into a habitable planet would be a scientific challenge. The planet is too cold, lacks a useable atmosphere, and the lack of a magnetic field leaves it susceptible to space weather. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere could solves two of these problems through the greenhouse effect. This thought-experiment could provide students an opportunity to better understand interactions between Earth systems.

Web Resource:  Terraforming Mars - Wikipedia

Rather than hauling heavy atmospheric pumps from earth, the way to create a habitable atmosphere on Mars is to take advantage of its own topology, geography and nature. Read more at BigThink.com: http://bigthink.com/dr-kakus-universe/the-cheapest-way-to-terraform-mars Follow Big Think here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bigthink Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigthink Transcript: Let's be blunt.