Geoengineering as a Precursor to Terraforming

Paper number

IAC-05-A3.2.B.10

Author

Mr. Angelo Grubisic, University of Southampton, United Kingdom

Coauthor

Mr. Tobias Bittner, International Space University (ISU), Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Julio Aprea Perez, International Space University (ISU), The Netherlands

Coauthor

Mr. Erik Clacey, Swedish Space Corporation, Sweden

Year

2005

Abstract

If climate stability cannot be attained fast enough over the next century then civilization may have to consider deploying engineered countermeasures by adding intention and design to the planet-altering capacities we already possess. This will likely seed the methods and techniques essential for the full-scale realization of terraforming.

Geoengineering faces many practical difficulties that are in many ways greater than those of terraforming, reinforced when considering the potential implications and dangers of attempting to tamper with immensely complex biospheres on an inhabited planet. Climatic zones, ecosystems, nations and people are subject to their own constraints and criteria, therefore, geoengineering must act to maintain global considerations while at the same time posing risks potentially as large as those they are designed to mitigate.

The growth of the Earth sciences has been brought about in part by a drive to quantify adverse environmental effects, in order to support arguments for environmentally damaging industry. Yet, the knowledge gained is increasingly granting us capabilities to deliberately engineer corrective environmental processes at a planetary scale.

A number of geoengineering proposals have been made in recent years and while almost all are deemed feasible, most have serious flaws. This paper presents an analysis of human planet altering capacities and a review of current geoengineering proposals, while hilighting the seriousness of the current climatic problem. Missing data such as discrepancies in carbon cycle modeling illustrate the complexity of biogeochemical cycles, especially those in which living organisms play a key role. It is critical that we understand the processes that control these sources for geoengineering, and ultimately for the realization of terraforming of other planets.

Abstract document

IAC-05-A3.2.B.10.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-A3.2.B.10.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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