Mars getting warmer, may have quakes

[420inTN]

Great, so now we're exporting Global Warming to Mars?
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Mars getting warmer, may have quakes
Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:39 PM ET

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The climate on Mars is showing a warming trend and recent images have shown the first evidence of seismic activity on Earth's neighbor planet, scientists said on Tuesday.

New gullies that did not exist three years ago have been pictured on a Mars sand dune -- just another of what scientists say are surprising discoveries found by cameras aboard the 8-year-old Mars Global Surveyor that are changing notions about the climate and formation of Mars.

"To see new gullies and other changes in Mars surface features on a time span of a few years presents us with a more active, dynamic planet than many suspected," said Michael Meyer, NASA's Mars Exploration Program chief scientist.

Images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on board the Surveyor showed that boulders have fallen down a Martian slope in the past two years.

more, full story here

[shireen]

1. cool!

Earth becomes like Venus because of global warming, Mars becomes cooler and suitable for human life. No wonder Bushie is so hyped about going to Mars.

[greyl]

2. Mars is warming up from an average temp of 70 below zero F nt

[noshenanigans]

6. This may sound like a stoner thought..

But how weird would it be if life developed and evolved on Mars because of all this, and we stumbled upon it while our Rovers where wandering away?

[Nihil]

13. And how unfortunate ...

... if, instead of "stumbling upon it", we drove over it and killed it ...

[craigolemiss]

3. Bush getting warmer, may have found Clue

Mrs. Peacock in the library with the lead pipe

Sorry--it's late---I couldn't resist

[greyl]

4. It's all too ... Shocking! :) nt

[jobycom]

5. Maybe we're wrong. Maybe it's "galaxial warming." nt.

[Algorem]

7. Maybe Mars really does need women.

[Meldread]

8. I don't think this is anything REALLY new.

A lot of folks theorized that *if* there was life (microbial) on Mars that it would have to be deep under the surface. We know life can exist where there is no light because we see it happen here on Earth in deep underground caverns. The only problem is getting someone or something down there. It'd be hard to send a robot down there, and sending a person... well... it'd be hard enough just scratching around on the surface of Mars. A tiny rip in a space suit and your dead - there is no breathable air on Mars. Rocks tend to rip and pull at space suits.

Most folks also believed in the warming / cooling of Mars. After all, we KNOW (and were 90% sure before we knew) there was water on Mars surface in the past. It had to go somewhere, and I think most folks believe some of it evaporated into outer space (due to the low gravity on Mars) and a large portion of it got frozen into the polar ice caps and permafrost. We don't know exactly why Mars cooled down, and I think most folks theorized that Mars goes through some heating/cooling type period. Kinda like seasons. Another school of thought is that Mars actually lost most of its atmosphere and lost the ability to retain heat.

What I want to know is which of the above schools of thought is correct, why Mars is heating up, what the future of Mars is, how this changes our picture of Mars, and in relation how does that change our picture of the Earth?

Also, what happens to Mars if the permafrost and polar icecaps melt? Would that release enough CO2 to heat up the planet? (And by heat-up the Planet I am thinking roughly what it would be like stepping onto an arid desert like Antarctica with no breathable air and with deadly radiation from outter space.)

[420inTN]

9. I believe that the surprising stuff is...

That the planet is warming and that there have been quakes recently. It was believed that the planet's core had pretty much cooled and was geologically inactive. Now, It seems that the planet is not as "dead" as previously believed.

[Meldread]

10. Well...

...I guess it depends on how you would define a planet as "dead". I don't think it is possible to call any planet dead, it might not have trees, running water, or the things we are used to seeing but I never really doubted that it was "alive". I have always regarded Mars as more "inactive" than "dead". Almost as if the entire planet had entered a deep hibernation, inactive, sleeping...

It's rather odd from a psychological stand point. A lot of folks label Mars as a "dead" planet, yet tons of stuff happens there everyday. It's like someone going out into the middle of the desert or death valley or in Antarctica and saying "this place is dead". Then when they cut just below the surface or take a step back and REALLY look around they are amazed at how dynamic and active things are. I wonder why people think this way?

In all honesty I don't find Mars all that exciting. My pet planet is Venus, followed by Titan, Jupiter and Saturn. I wish there was more study going into Venus and Titan. I want to know what Jupiter and Saturn's core looks like. I want pictures of what it would be like descending down into Jupiter or Saturn. I also want to know if water really exists on Jupiter and what it looks like and how it works. I want to know if Venus has water vapor trapped in its clouds and what the planet would look like if it was released. Then there is Titan... I just want to know more about Titan in general.

Comparatively speaking we know tons about Mars. These other planets and moons still hold more mysteries than you can shake a stick at. Of course, this isn't even touching anything dealing with the Sun.

[Squeegee]

11. I think he meant it in the geologic sense

Mars has no signs of plate tectonics, few volcanoes (all appear long dormant), and a negligible magnetic field which most likely means the planet's core relatively cool and inactive, especially compared to the Earth's. In this sense, Mars is sort of like a person who doesn't have a detectable heartbeat.

[420inTN]

12. As Squeegee replied...

I, and the article, were referring to geological activity (or inactivity).

Adit: Of course, the evidence of rock slides could result from erosion from dust storms. Also, if the surface is warming, evaporating gasses could also cause the rock falls. The evidence is inconclusive. It is quite possible that Mars does have a solid (not molten) core, and is thus "dead".

[PATRICK]

14. All those

spacecraft and probes we have been dumping on mars replete with mutating aerobic bacteria and mold.

Considering the mind stunning spin of the Right I can well imagine them touting global warming on Mars while scoffing about it here.

But seriously, is this tied to cyclical solar activity for the planetary system?

[Dogmudgeon]

15. I think most of the outer planets have been getting warmer

It has led to some speculation that this warming phase is being caused by the Solar System's passage through a tenuous cloud of cosmic dust. Most of the stories I saw on it were short pieces, usually published around 1999-2003, especially the finding that Pluto was contiuing to warm up since it passed perihelion in 1978, reached the distance of Neptune, and was moving further away from the Sun. Has anyone else seen any of these reports, or gotten a better (more fact-supported) version of all this?

It's also possible that it's contributing to terrestrial warming, but it doesn't change the fact that human generation of huge amounts of waste greenhouse gasses has contributed to our own planet's problems.

--p!