>As a result, Mars atmosphere would naturally thicken over time, which lead to many new possibilities for human exploration and colonization. According to Green

>As a result, Mars atmosphere would naturally thicken over time, which lead to many new possibilities for human exploration and colonization. According to Green and his colleagues, these would include an average increase of about 4 °C (~7 °F), which would be enough to melt the carbon dioxide ice in the northern polar ice cap. This would trigger a greenhouse effect, warming the atmosphere further and causing the water ice in the polar caps to melt. Also suspiciously absent is any mention of how long this kind of change would be expected to take... I would be legitimately surprised if it'd take less than 20 years though, which is somewhat implied by the paragraphs that follow: >"A greatly enhanced Martian atmosphere, in both pressure and temperature, that would be enough to allow significant surface liquid water would also have a number of benefits for science and human exploration in the 2040s and beyond," ... A lot of it does seem to be very carefully avoiding making any clear statements or connections between critical bits of info though. There's room for "that wasn't claimed" arguments, but it's certainly standing very close to some lines...