By: Mohammad Faisal

History The term was coined by Jack Williamson, an American science fiction writer. The term appeared in the 1942 editions of the science fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It was in the story titled “Collision Orbit”. The term was mentioned on other magazines before but it was first known from this magazine.

What is it? Terraforming is a process where an environment that is not safe for human is altered so that it is suitable for human life and any other organisms that breath the same air. An real life example would be NASA sending Rovers to Mars to investigate and collect any information that may help them terraform Mars.

Why is it important? Human Population is rapidly increasing everyday and it will eventually come to a point where we are overpopulated. According to Science Alert, the human population is estimated to be around 9.9 billion by 2050 and that overpopulation can pose a threat to the future generation.

Overpopulation effects the environment No clean Water Plant and animal extinction Lower life expectancy Climate change gets worse

Is it possible? According to NASA it is not possible right now because technology is not that advanced yet. They also have doubts that it might not be really possible even if technology advances. Elong Musk, however, says otherwise.

Citations The origin of the term “Terraform”. Feb 23, 2016 by Matt Williams from Universe Today. https://www.universetoday.com/127311/guide-to- terraforming/ Information about the human population. Sep 1, 2016 by Leanna Garfield from Business Insider. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-population-is- growing-faster-than-we-thought-new-report-finds This explains how terraforming works. By Kevin Bonsor(no date was provided for this article) from How stuff works. https://science.howstuffworks.com/terraforming1.htm This is the point of views from both Nasa and Elong Musk. Aug 1, 2018 by Doyle Rice from USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/08/0 1/mars-terraform-nasa-elon-musk/878404002/ Here Nasa talks about how terraforming is not possible at the moment. July 30, 2018 by Nasa. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars- terraforming

Citations Information about terraforming. No given date or author. https://sites.google.com/a/depauw.edu/terr aforming-mars/what-is-terraforming Picture of Jack Williamson. http://www.lasfsinc.info/index.php?option=c om_content&task=view&id=393&Itemid=148 Overpopulation effects the environment. Jan 16,2018 by Megan Ray Nichols From Schooled by Science. https://schooledbyscience.com/overpopulat ion-effect-environment/