Humans need to ‘defrost’ Mars or face extinction, expert warns
Human need to learn the lesson of the extinction of the dinosaurs – and develop a ‘Plan B’ by colonising Mars, a theoretical physicist has warned.
Michio Kaku says that ‘99.9% of all life forms disappear off the face of the Earth,’ and that unless humans move to Mars, that could include us.
Kaku said, ‘The dinosaurs did not have a space program, and that’s why they are not here today to talk about it.’
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‘Extinction is the norm,’ he told ABC news, ‘We think of Mother Nature as being warm and cuddly, which is partly true. But nature is merciless when it comes to wiping out inefficient life forms.’
The theoretical physicist suggests that people could colonise Mars by deliberately starting a greenhouse effect there to make it warm enough to live on the planet.
Kaku said, ‘Once you can raise the temperature of Mars by six degrees, it takes off all by itself.
‘All of a sudden you get a runaway greenhouse effect, and Mars basically terraforms itself.’
This week, Elon Musk’s famous Red Tesla roadster, launched into space by a Space X rocket, passed the orbit of Mars, according to a Tweet from Space X.
Several competing missions aim to put the first explorers on the Red Planet, with Dutch company Mars One having recruited 1,000 volunteers for a future mission.
In 2015, NASA outlined a plan to land humans on the surface of Mars by 2030.
