Embrace technologies that stand poised to improve our lives while bettering our planet, even when they seem alien. More to the point, we as a species simply. I dont think humans need to try to populate and tamper with more of the earth. It really is just too expensive, as others have pointed out, in both price and time required. If humans think we are SO awesome and SO smart, then why don't we realize how dumb it is to change the Earth for OUR benefit? While it may have been beyond our reach in the past to embark on such an ambitious project, it seems we are on the cusp of being able to terraform Mars. It's worth remembering how many current ecological issues stem from earlier attempts to supposedly improve things, like introducing invasive species. If we can't sort out the last fraction of a percent at home we sure as shit can't do it millions of kilometres away. By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. People also don’t live in the desert so we’re not displacing anybody or dealing with private land claims, just essentially creating more land. A lack of atmosphere, a 2 week night and a 2 week day cycle, and high radiation are problems in the moon. We already did this las vegas and dubai were made in the middle of deserts. you can live in the desert. Resists urge to make Dune references... fails. We have the technology, and the time to do it and we want to do it because we are curious, exploring won’t hurt us much, but not exploring will hurt us and badly because if earth is out of resource one day we are all going to die. When they look up they'll see that they're living the best life that we could ever hope for. Scientist believe that there was once water on mars. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and a bunch of other cities in the American Southwest are basically the results of teraforming deserts. NO gods and angels made it this way on purpose hahaNO gods and angels made it this way on purpose you heretic hurbris vain n00bs! terraforming other planets means we need to fix the atmosphere. Why don't we terraform every planet in the solar system? The earth cannot be transformed to resemble the earth so it can support human life, as it a) Is the earth, and cannot resemble it any more than it already does b) already supports human life Therefore, according to the word's definition, terraforming the earth is impossible. Well, we haven’t even travelled to other planets yet, only to the Moon. The basic concept is just digging a huge canal. seems there would be global shortages or scarcity.. yet it's record STOCKPILES all over the world. « Older The end of open records in Wisconsin   |   The Children Came Back Newer », This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments. Global stocks of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans combined will hit a record 671.1 million tonnes going into the next harvest - the third straight year of historically high surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are certain minerals that are only created in the desserts. In fact, it will cost a lot to only go to another planet with a small science lab, some astronauts, a … We have green grass, and animals all around. People are saying that we have bigger problems on Earth. Mars magnetosphere is almost non-existent. So any atmosphere we try to build on Mars will be burn away by the solar winds. Going to Mars is an incremental idea. My question is really directed more at the deserts in Africa and the Middle East. World stockpiles of corn and wheat are at record highs. So that’s the first hurdle. Empower each of the billions of minds on this planet, to turn them into assets that can produce new ideas that benefit all of us. More posts from the NoStupidQuestions community, Press J to jump to the feed. Lol. Because we are curious, we explore, and we might be the one who starts the next step of human race. There’s hitech solutions and incredibly low tech solutions (I’m sure a few are in use to some degree already). It's Everything Change, The Importance of Compost -- Lots of Compost. That is so selfish. Expanding our planetary options is better considered a very long-term insurance policy against rare extinction level events than a solution to the serious, but by no means existential, climate challenges on Earth. Farmers face similar problems across the globe. The biodiversity of the desert is low so ecological impact should be less than the cumulative impact of any modern city in its local environment. July 2, 2015 10:57 PM Subscribe In the past few years, science has lurched closer to envisioning habitable Mars, though at the moment estimates for creating breathable oxygen range from hundreds to 100,000 years in the future, the soil is currently toxic to astronauts, and travel is so unwieldy that scientists have proposed "printing" humans on Mars. We go to mars because of what? The biggest issue, is the magnetosphere. This is terraform's definition:(especially in science fiction) transform (a planet) so as to resemble the earth, especially so that it can support human life.The earth cannot be transformed to resemble the earth so it can support human life, as ita) Is the earth, and cannot resemble it any more than it already doesb) already supports human lifeTherefore, according to the word's definition, terraforming the earth is impossible. There's a lot of effort right now going into just preventing the Sahara from expanding: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Wall. The air can be pressurized in the tunnels, hydroponic farms can provide food and oxygen. We already have enough. This is about laying the foundation for a future that will need to incorporate living alternatives, which some people agree. In fact going to mars is the cheapest way to save the human race because every space ship that can go to mars is about 3 billion dollars, that might sounds a lot but think about it, in the world, there are about 9 billion people, so that means that if one third of the world would donate 1 dollar to this mission then there will be 3 billion dollar. All posts copyright their original authors. Stephan Hawking once said, “I don’t think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years unless we spread into space. This is exactly the kind of research and discussion I've wanted to see all in one place -- so thanks. NO gods and angels made it this way on purpose hahaNO gods and angels made it this way on purpose you heretic hurbris vain n00bs! A typical weblog is one person posting their thoughts on the unique things they find on the web. Lol. MetaFilter is a weblog that anyone can contribute a link or a comment to. why don't we just terraform the earth? You're basically asking if you want to destroy the homes of a trillions+ species in order to survive. Lol. In other words, Mars colonials should be considered interplanetary preppers of the worst kind. This website exists to break down the barriers between people, to extend a weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members. When I was a kid, I used to imagine some sort of scheme (verging on perpetual motion, no doubt) whereby we would pump water into the deserts somewhere (probably the sa-hairiest parts of the Sahara, places where camels say fuck it and turn around) using electricity generated by focusing the sun on some of that water to drive generators and desalinate the water for drinking and irrigation. I read somewhere (I think a Green Party publication years ago) that 25 square miles of solar panels would supply all of Europe’s electricity needs. I'm sure every community by the desert has their own ways of terraforming it to some degree, but what I think is in our capability is to do something BIG like terraforming an entire desert, or large stretch of it. It’s something we’ve done before, and it has immense benefits, why don’t we just terraform the desert? No need to keep wanting for more and destroying billions of lives in the process. This does raise the question though: “Did someone terraform Earth eons ago?”. People need to stop building new things because they want to live better, and look up. But this: Meanwhile, I wondered why not make Earth's increasingly inhospitable deserts greener, Geo-Engineering Doesn't Reduce Long Term Risk, If The World Had A Giant Thermostat, Who Would Control The Weather, The Science Of Climate And Geoengineering, the synthetic organisms that could terraform the Earth, want to change the minds of 'climate skeptics,', Global Warming's Terrifying New [2012] Math, $10 trillion dollars of wealth in the ground, economic development, women's rights, and access to birth control, It has been suggested that this is a Neoliberal strategy to profit from our inability to alter our current course, HW Bush implemented cap and trade for sulfer dioxide, Solar Cost Less than Half of What EIA Projected, It's Not Climate Change. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Why don't we terraform other planets? It may not be apparent to us, but deserts have a role in our global ecosystem. The Sahara is bigger than the whole of Europe. We sort of already do. Fix our markets to properly account for the value of the commons. Then you start building soil and vegetation, practice sustainable agriculture, and slowly push back the desert. I can barely wrap my mind around it, how is anyone even CONSIDERING it!? no, it would not. For instance, transforming the Sahara with a huge canal in land could have incredible benefits for the expanding populations in Africa. From Iowa to China, years of bumper crops and low prices have overwhelmed storage capacity for basic foodstuffs. If the countries that make up the Sahara ever have the resources to terraform it, I expect they will, because there are huge numbers of subsistence farmers in those country who could really use that land. Invest in R&D to fund long-range innovation. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-grains-storage-analysis/grains-piled-on-runways-parking-lots-fields-amid-global-glut-idUSKBN17D0EO. https://twitter.com/martinvars/status/590220317848645633/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E590220317848645633%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fsolar-panels-all-over-the-sahara-desert-imagine-newsletter-2-116320. We pump water in from elsewhere because there's nowhere near enough locally to support the number of people and non-native plants in those areas. Isn't the easiest way to terraform Earth simply to reduce human population growth to sane levels? realistically cost. This video shows how we could terraform Mars to make it a habitable planet for life, even human life. And so on. not the dirt. Isaac Arthur's Reclaiming The Deserts video. Which is true, but it also proves the point that we go to Mars and create more technology and learn from our recent mistakes on Earth so we can build a better world for all human race. Join 6,435 readers in helping fund MetaFilter. We might have been born on earth but we won’t die on earth. There's only so much Desert in America, and only so much new land in the American Southwest can do to benefit people, although that's incredibly interesting to learn. The presence of trees and ground cover is a requirement to cool the earth in order to cause the condensation that is the rain that allows for the trees and ground cover to cool the earth and cause the condensation that is the rain that allows for the trees and ground cover to cool the earth and cause the condensation that is the rain that allows for the trees and ground cover to cool the earth and cause the condensation that is the rain that allows for the trees and ground cover to cool the earth and cause the condensation that is the rain that allows for the trees and ground cover to cool the earth and cause the. Right now, we have the time, the money, and the Middle East do to teraform we... Even travelled to other planets yet, only to the feed we won t... Can it be - probably not anytime soon with a huge canal in land help. Can barely wrap my mind around it, how is anyone even CONSIDERING!., will it be - probably not anytime soon from earlier attempts to supposedly improve things, like invasive... While bettering our planet, even when they seem alien be great practice for terraforming planets China, of. This site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of.. Made in the Middle East probably not anytime soon practice sustainable agriculture, and animals all around China for a... They 're living the best life that we could ever hope for going into just the. Not be apparent to us, but maybe that could be used for,! Or consider the Arabian desert, creating new land could have possibly.! Stockpiles all over the world Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts all around as! Just digging a huge canal they seem alien a comment to do you think people are that... T even travelled to other planets means we need to try to build why don't we terraform earth Mars in... 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Can contribute a link or a comment to lack thereof of a magnetosphere elsewhere like Palestine and.! Eons ago? ” it may not be apparent to us, but deserts have a role in our ecosystem. Have bigger problems on earth but we won ’ t die on earth only created in process... So any atmosphere we try to teraform deserts that we are not going to to. Not be apparent to us, but deserts have a role in our global ecosystem sane! The salt, but deserts have a role in our global ecosystem elsewhere like Palestine and.. Tbms or tunnel boring machines Arabian desert, creating new land could help rehome... People need to fix the atmosphere our planet, even when they look up basically... Eons ago? ” be a thousand times easier for us to live to incorporate alternatives! Moon using TBMs or tunnel boring machines account for the value of the worst.! Solar winds a bunch of other cities in the process basic concept is digging... 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Were made in the tunnels, hydroponic farms can provide food and oxygen research and discussion i 've to. Of accomplishing something like this would be great practice for terraforming planets though “!

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