Terraforming Essay -- Argumentative Environment Essays Persuasive

Terraforming Terraforming has been explored in science fiction for years, but improving technology, along with concerns such as population growth and expenditure of natural resources, are causing terraforming to become a possibility. Population growth is the most obvious reason for terraforming. The world’s population is expected to rise steadily for the next 50 years; although the rate of population growth decreases slightly each year, the world population is estimated to increase by about half its current size between 2004 and 2050 (1). Barring any disaster that could cause a dramatic population decrease, humans will eventually overrun the amount of space available on Earth. Another concern is the availability of the Earth’s natural resources. Humans use Earth’s resources for energy and commodities. According to the Living Planet Report 2002, approximately 20% more resources than can be naturally replenished are harvested from the Earth each year. If this rate continues, tw o Earths would be required to supply resources by the year 2050; if the rate of overconsumption increases, resources will run out even sooner (2). These figures indicate that humans must find another source of resources to support themselves. Successful attempts at terraforming would have huge social consequences for humanity. A parallel could be drawn between settling another planet and the settlement of the American colonies. There could be wars between countries to claim the territory similar to those waged in the so-called â€Å"New World†. Also, a new government would have to be established to bring order to the new territory. A colony on another planet would probably become an elitist colony. Only powerful countries would be able to afford to partake in ... ...maturity in a necessary time frame for maximum effectiveness. References 1. 2004. Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050. 2. Loh, Jonathan. 2002, Living Planet Report 2002. The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre 3. Giroux, Marx. 2004, Ask an Expert 4. Halliday, Resnick, Walker. 2004, Fundamentals of Physics. Seventh Edition. Pg. A4 5.http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/terraforming_mars.html?322004 6.http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.etsu.edu:2048/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V3S3TN437NJ1&_cdi=5738&_orig=search&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1998&_sk=999779996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVlzzSkzV&_acct=C000024158&_version=1&_userid=495826&md5=d1adbd2707ffbfe6cd6e9152cd00eaf3&ie=f.pdf 7. http://www.intuitor.com/MarsNIF/MarsH2O.html