Why are scientists proposing to warm up Mars, how will they do it?

Scientists have proposed an interesting approach to increase the temperature of Mars , Earth's planetary neighbour, by introducing engineered particles into its atmosphere . These particles, similar in size to commercial glitter and composed of iron or aluminium, would act as aerosols, trapping and escaping the heat and reflecting sunlight towards the Martian surface. The goal is to enhance the natural greenhouse effect on Mars, raising its surface temperature by approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) over a period of ten years.

While this approach alone would not make Mars habitable for humans, the researchers who developed the proposal consider it a potentially feasible initial step. As University of Chicago planetary scientist Edwin Kite explained, " Terraforming refers to modifying a planet's environment to make it more Earth-like. For Mars, warming the planet is a necessary, but insufficient, first step.

Previous concepts have focused on releasing greenhouse gases, but these require large amounts of resources that are scarce on Mars." Kite emphasised the significance of their study, saying, "The key elements of our paper are a novel proposal to use engineered nanoparticles to warm Mars' atmosphere, and climate modelling that suggests this approach could be much more efficient than previous concepts. This is important because it presents a potentially more feasible method for modifying Mars' climate, which could inform future Mars exploration strategies.

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