Wednesday, August 7, 2024

There is no Planet B

It's nothing but fantasy to believe any significant number of us on Earth will be moving to Mars.  The people planning and working toward a human colony on Mars (or anywhere else) are NOT thinking about transporting eight billion people to another planet.  Such a task would be impossible, and completely so.

Most likely, what is being sought is to eventually establish a small colony of people with special skills.  Over time, those colonists would reproduce more humans; and that's how our species would leave Earth.  Even those people, though, would have a rough time.  They might not even survive.  Here's why---

1.  Although the temperature on Mars can get up to 70 degrees F, that rarely happens.  The average temperature on Mars is about minus 80 degrees F.  Most of the time, temperatures range from minus 14 degrees F to minus 120 degrees F.

2.  Large, regional dust storms on Mars often last for weeks.  The winds of such storms are up to seventy miles per hour.  Once in awhile, dust storms are not just regional.  Instead, they are planet-wide.  Try to imagine being in such a situation.

3.  Because of the above points - and much more - most of the time colonists would be inside some structure or another.  Yes, they probably would have some version of A.I.' s  "augmented reality" gizmo to aid in avoiding cabin fever; however, I suspect that only can take a person so far.  After that, no one knows what might happen to a person's mind.

4.  Whether indoors, or outdoors in a pressurized & oxygenized suit, there is no room for error.  Chances are, if you make only one mistake related to air pressure, oxygen, storms, etc., you're dead.

BOTTOM LINE---

I've seen comments online which go something like this:  if we totally wreck Earth, we'll just move to Mars or somewhere else in the solar system.  No, we won't.  For about 99.99999% of us, there is no Planet B.  ASAP, we must stop "wrecking" Mother Earth, and start rehabilitating Her.  If we are to survive and thrive, there's no other reasonable option.  We must (more and more) show our appreciation of the magnificent gift of Earth we've been given.  It's not too late to begin treating the natural world as sacred.
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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

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