TerraForming Cody Toney-Griffith ENG 2420 12/05/2016

What is Terraforming? Terraforming is the process whereby a hostile environment (i.e. a planet that is too cold, too hot, and/or has an unbreathable atmosphere) is altered in order to be suitable for human life. Concept appeared in “Olaf Stapledon’s fictional tour de force “Last and First Men” in 1930”. Coined by Jack Williamson In the science-fiction story(Collision Orbit) in 1942.

Enhancing the greenhouse effect. Is it Possible? Humanity has already demonstrated that they are capable of altering environments on planetary scales. Enhancing the greenhouse effect.

Awakens the sense of progress for humanity. Why Terraform? Survival Learning more about Earth through researching how to make another world Earth like. Resources. Expand Humanity beyond Earth providing one solution to over population. Awakens the sense of progress for humanity.

Is it Ethical? Terraforming becomes unethical/ethical under specific circumstances. Can lead to the genocide of another Lifeform. It’s the invasion and conquering of another planet. Humanity is known for bringing other species to the brink of extinction or to extinction for our own needs.

Conclusion Terraforming is a future possibility, science fiction brought to life. Humanity is coded to survive by any means necessary. That need makes us want to expand beyond our planet. With the right steps Ethical Terraforming can be done. Through Terraforming we may be able to reverse the damage we have done to earth. If there’s a will there’s a way.

Works Cited Schwartz, James S. J. “On the Moral Permissibility of Terraforming.” Ethics and the Environment, vol. 18, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1– 31. www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/ethicsenviro.18.2.1. Luke, Timothy W. “Environmental Emulations: Terraforming Technologies and the Tourist Trade at Biosphere 2.” Ecocritique: Contesting the Politics of Nature, Economy, and Culture, NED - New edition, University of Minnesota Press, 1997, pp. 95–114, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttts574.9. PAK, CHRIS. Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction. Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, 2016, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gpcb56. Brunn, Stanley D., Martyn J. Fogg, and Christopher P. Mckay. Engineering Earth: The Impacts of Megaengineering Projects. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011. Print Robert M. Zubrin, Christopher P. Mckay. 29th Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit: Technological Requirements for Terraforming Mars. 1993

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