The Ethics of Terraformation Essay -- Space Technology Science Essays

The Ethics of TerraformationWhat is Terraformation? The point of terraforming is to change an uninhabitable terrestrial planet into one that can support human life on the surface. Terraforming is a broad undertaking, and it involves altering a totally planets climate, geology, and life. It entails the destruction of land masses and geological features billions of years old, elevating the global temperature, and flooding the surface with vast oceans. The most relevant to this intervention is the releasing of thousands of species from another planet to live and breed, altering the atmospheric makeup with every breath. 1Ever since terraformation was imagined years ago, people began to ask if it was ethical. Changing a whole planet to fit our desires seemed like a religious authority that doesnt fit in the hands of humans. Science has developed since then and with it, changes in bioengineering. We atomic number 18 playing God to a degree that not even science fiction could imagine. But have we actually changed? We read in the news or see on the television everyday about parties of environmental protesters lobbying for protection of natural resources or preservation of our national parks. The majority of the public believes that our environment requires our contiguous attention.2On Mars it will be the same. There will be individuals who are pro-terraforming and those who are against it. There will be extremists and neutralists. In Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson, the sides are designated by colors. Greens, or terraforming supporters, are in constant conflict with the Reds.3 These have become the most common terms for describing people intricate in terraformation debates. Why Mars? People have been captivated wit... ....6 Hamilton7 Hamilton8 Hamilton9 Hamilton10 NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Exploration Rover Mission, 2004, California Institute of Technology, 10 Feb. 2004, <http//marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ bearing/press/spirit/20040112a.html 11 NASA .12 NASA.13 Graham.14 Graham15 Graham16 Moore17 DeVincenzi, D. L., P. Stabekis, and J. Barengoltz, Refinement of Planetary Protection Policy for Mars Missions, Adv. Space Res., 1996 Vol. 18, No. 1 <http//library.thinkquest.org/11967/ppp4m.html?tqskip1=118 DeVincenzi19 Terraforming Mars, 2002, Science Forum, 13 Feb. 2004, <http//www.sciencegroups.com/viewtopic.php?t=991520 Barbour, Ian G., Ethics is an Age of Technology, (San Francisco Harper San Francisco, 1991) 66.21 Barbour, 64.22 Barbour, 69.23 Barbour, 79.