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The threat from asteroids is that years of perpetual winter shut down our agriculture for years or even decades. But even in the case of a really massive, Chicx
by Pinckney 11y ago
The threat from asteroids is that years of perpetual winter shut down our agriculture for years or even decades. But even in the case of a really massive, Chicxulub sized impact, earth will remain more hospitable than mars. The temperatures will be milder, sunlight at the surface will still be stronger, the air will still be breathable.
If we can build a sealed habitat on mars capable of recycling water and growing its own food, we can do the same here on earth. Just give it a dedicated fission reactor to keep the greenhouses running, distribute half a dozen of them around the world so that they can't all die to direct impacts, and fortify them heavily to keep the starving masses out.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIf that is the asteroid I think it was, Earth surface temperatures reached ~600F for weeks. Not really hospitable.
- Pinckney 11y agoYou'll need to cite sources for Chicxulub or any other impact producing temperatures like that globally. It is thought that Chicxulub may have produced global firestorms, before a period of global cooling. The point still stands: it's not hard to build structures that can survive fire. Building out of concrete, with thick walls, a self-contained air supply, and away from any vegetation (or simply underground) should suffice, and will still be much easier than colonizing Mars.