Mars is famous for being the “Red Planet” but that doesn’t mean we can’t color it green.
Dry, extremely cold, and with a tenuous atmosphere — Mars’ current atmosphere is extremely unlikely to sustain any form of life at the surface. It’s pretty much a hellscape, though it remains the most attractive planet to settle beyond Earth. But four billion years ago, Earth’s smaller, red neighbor may have been much more hospitable.
Mars had huge surface oceans and rivers of flowing water which carved huge canyons still visible today. In fact, around that time Hadean Earth was covered in a thick hydride-rich atmosphere and its surface was more molten than solid; so early Mars was probably more conducive to life than early Earth. But something happened in the meantime and the destinies of the two planets greatly diverged, one becoming a paradise oasis relative to the bleakness of other planets while the other morphed into a barren red rock.
But if Mars was once habitable, this means there’s a good chance it could be swayed to revert to its former balmy state. However, it won’t happen on its own — the current trajectory is towards even more bareness as its paper-thin atmosphere withers away by the day. Enter Mars terraforming, the process of creating an Earth-like or habitable environment.
A New Approach to Terraforming Mars
Scientists have long been fascinated with the idea of making Mars habitable. Now, a new study proposes a method that could warm the Red Planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) —enough to support microbial life. Researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Central Florida suggest flooding Mars’ atmosphere with engineered dust particles that trap heat.
The proposed method is over 5,000 times more efficient than previous ideas, according to the researchers. Unlike earlier schemes that relied on importing materials from Earth, this approach would use resources already available on Mars, making it far more feasible.
“This suggests that the barrier to warming Mars to allow liquid water is not as high as previously thought,” said Edwin Kite, an associate professor at the University of Chicago and the study’s corresponding author.
The Science Behind the Idea
The surface of Mars is incredibly cold, averaging about -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius). To make the planet more hospitable, scientists have explored various ways to warm it up. Previous ideas included releasing greenhouse gases like chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere or even detonating nuclear bombs on the surface to generate heat. However, these methods were either impractical or required massive amounts of material that would have to be transported from Earth.
The new approach leverages Mars’ existing resources. Dust on Mars is rich in iron and aluminum, but these natural particles by themselves are not effective at warming the planet. To solve this, the researchers engineered tiny rod-shaped particles—similar in size to glitter—that can trap heat much more efficiently. These particles would scatter sunlight and enhance Mars’ natural greenhouse effect, potentially warming the planet within months, just enough to allow liquid water.
“You’d still need millions of tons to warm the planet, but that’s five thousand times less than you would need with previous proposals to globally warm Mars,” said Kite. “This significantly increases the feasibility of the project.”
However, the plan is not without challenges. While the engineered dust could warm Mars, it’s unclear how long the particles would stay in the atmosphere or how quickly they would be removed. There’s also the matter of how one goes about building a processing station that turns plain Martian dust into heat-trapping particles. The researchers also caution that more data is needed to fully understand the climate feedback loops involved.
What’s more, warming Mars is only the first step in making it habitable. Mars’s atmosphere lacks sufficient oxygen, and the low pressure would make human survival impossible. Additionally, the planet’s soil may be too toxic for growing crops, and the lack of an ozone layer leaves it vulnerable to harmful ultraviolet radiation. All of these problems are orders of magnitude more challenging to solve than raising Mars’ surface temperature — but undoubtedly this is the first step in terraformation and you have to start somewhere.
“This research opens new avenues for exploration and potentially brings us one step closer to the long-held dream of establishing a sustainable human presence on Mars,” Kite added.
The findings appeared in the journal Science.
