The search for life on Mars has so far yielded few signs of activity. However, it’s still possible that if the right conditions are met, Earth-like organisms could flourish on Mars.
But before humans ever set foot on the Red Planet, they’d need to solve a few serious problems. The simplest of those is that Mars doesn’t have enough greenhouse gases to support an atmosphere comparable to Earth’s.
Climate
The climate on earth has become a major concern in recent years as global temperatures have risen. Many believe that human activity is the main cause of this change, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.
As the sun is constantly sending high-energy particles known as the solar wind across our planet, carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels can boost the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect can trap heat within the atmosphere and cause average temperatures to rise.
However, if carbon dioxide concentrations increase significantly, such as with the burning of more fossil fuels, the planet can also experience severe temperature changes. These changes can affect everything from water resources to crop yields.
In addition, the loss of greenhouse gases can also trigger other effects that may amplify or diminish the initial warming. These can include increased sea levels and icebergs, extinction of marine life, climatic shifts in weather patterns and more.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere is a layer of gases and tiny water particles that surrounds the Earth. This layer is kept in place by gravity.
It is made of mostly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), but there are also argon, carbon dioxide and aerosols(particles such as dust, pollen, ash, smoke). These gases help animals and plants survive on the ground and in the air.
Atmospheric gases also absorb sunlight and heat, causing temperatures to rise. This is called a greenhouse effect.
This happens because the gaseous atmosphere makes it difficult for light to escape. This keeps the Earth warm and helps form our weather patterns.
The atmosphere has two layers, the mesosphere and the thermosphere. The mesosphere extends from around 50-80 km (31-50 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
Surface
The surface of Earth is made up of a layer of rock called the crust. The crust is a hard, rocky material that cooled 4.5 billion years ago and formed mountains, oceans, and continents.
The crust is also broken into many large plates, known as tectonic plates, that move slowly relative to each other. The movement of the plates causes a lot of changes to Earth’s surface.
For example, the movement of a plate may cause volcanoes to form. It can also cause earthquakes.
Another important effect that happens on the surface is erosion. When water hits the earth’s surface it has enough force to move loose soil and rick particles around and deposit them in new places.
Scientists study the surface of the earth to find out how it is changing and how we can make it better. The scientists also need to understand how the earth is reacting to changes in the atmosphere and in the world around it.
Water
Water is one of the most essential elements on Earth, and it’s also a very precious resource. It’s the basis of life on land and in the sea, it protects life from deadly disease and it helps us keep our bodies and the environment healthy.
On Mars, however, water is currently trapped in ice layers several kilometres thick at both the north and south poles, as well as in the atmosphere. But new data now shows that there might have been a large amount of liquid water on the red planet at one point in its history.
That water was trapped in a layer of frozen ground called the cryosphere, which reaches to depths of around 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) near the Martian equator and 6.5 km (4 mi) deep in the polar regions. This makes it likely that there is still some liquid water underground on Mars, the researchers say.