There are lot of theories given over last few decades about the best and quickest way to make Mars a habitable planet and on all those one of the most popular is nuking the planet over the Poles. Even some of the famous personalities like Elon Musk has approved this theory as the best and quickest way. But the real question is - Can we do it ? Should we go for it ? What are the challenges and risk involved in this plan ? All these questions needs to be answered first before we even think about this. For those of you who does not understand what we are talking about, let's understand few important things here.
What is Nuclear Bomb
A nuclear bomb is basically, as we say it, is an explosive weapon of Mass Destruction. It uses the destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion.
What is Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It is also known as the Red Planet due to presence of high amount of iron oxide on its surface. It is next planet beyond the earth and about half the size of our planet.
Why to make Mars a Habitable Planet
The amount of problems that we are facing today on our Planet are just way beyond the control and it keeps on increasing at a faster pace. The onset of Industrial revolution not only gave us the growth but also a way to encroach upon more and more planet's resources which would ultimately cause an irreversible damage to our planet. It's just the question of when. All these thoughts has led us to think about an alternative option of exploring a planet like Mars which has geological structure almost same as the Earth and might be able to sustain human life in the future.
What is the best and quickest way to make Mars a habitable Planet ?
Also Read: 50 Important Questions on Elephants You Should Know About
The idea of nuking itself is so disastrous that you might probably get into a shock when someone tells you the nuking is the best and quickest way to make the Mars a habitable planet. Well, the idea of nuking is certainly not new. It is an option considered for many decades now. The Goal is to basically detonate the thermonuclear bombs over the Poles. As a result, the Ice on the poles would get warm causing the release of water and carbon dioxide. The presence of Carbon dioxide will start imparting an increase in Greenhouse Effect. This will make the planet warmer make it more habitable.
The other important problem to deal with is the Atmosphere. The Earth's atmosphere is almost 100 times thicker than the Mars. For humans to live in a planet, a thicker atmosphere is required. The release of CO2 in atmosphere will only increase its level up to 7% of Earth's.
So now the real exciting question is why we haven't done it yet ? Well, the answer is pretty simple. There are literally 100 things that can go wrong with this plan. The first and foremost risk is that since it is just a theory so it is very difficult to predict the outcome of this plan as it is never tested anywhere in reality. The second risk is that instead of warming the planet, the nukes might start a nuclear winter.
Then the third important risk is that nuke might create a great amount of dust which can block the sunlight to the planet for many more years. This will further cool down the planet instead of getting warmer. And finally the radiation which poses a great risk to Human Beings. This itself is a such big problem that it can put the human away from the planet for next several hundred or may be thousand years.
Not to mention, this is all just the prediction based on our current knowledge of the planet. Given the percentage of knowledge that we have, it is fair to say that there are many unforeseen challenges that may result in the deterioration of the planet instead of improving it. Hence there are much more greater risks involved in detonating a Nuclear Bomb on Mars.