Is Mars a Good Backup Plan?

Could Mars serve as a replacement for Earth? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice discuss terraforming Mars as a backup for Earth and its challenges with climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe.

Do we have a backup plan? We explore our path to dealing with climate change and how Mars could factor in. Learn about geoengineering, “Flat Earth Syndrome”, and how our civilization is at stake. If we could terraform Mars couldn’t we just terraform Earth?

FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:

About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

#StarTalk #neildegrassetyson

Timestamps:
00:00 - Is Mars just Earth 2.0?
4:00 - Taking Care of the Climate
5:30 - The Risks & Terraforming
7:00 - Creating Infinite Earths

[alexhigginbotham]

The short answer is no. Neil has said it himself before... if we can terraform Mars then we can just simply do so with the planet we are already on.

[LtNduati]

Neil: I'm a simple man, I think of myself as a practical optimist

Also Neil: What we need, is an offshore black hole


On the real, I love this channel/series, just wish this one was longer!

[paul_sanchez]

I've always seen this Mars ideas like actual plan B: just in case plan A doesn't work. Meaning: having a plan B running (ie Terraforming Mars) doesn't mean you don't aim for plan A first (maybe fixing Earth)

[st.charlesofaberdeen]

I just feel like as we begin to explore this solar system we're going to make the same mistakes out there that we're doing here on Earth Prime😢

[teknophyle]

I look at this the same way we handle data backups in IT. You want as much safety and redundancy at your primary location as you can get, but you also want an offsite backup. I see no reason why we couldn't treat mars as a (very) long term goal, while putting most of the effort in fixing what we got.

[stellarwind]

Antarctica would look like a vacation destination compared to life on Mars.

[clintjohnson]

I feel like they’re thinking small. This reminds me of an episode of Neil talking about cavemen not wanting to explore. Why can’t we do both? While I do whole heartedly agree that terraforming Mars isn’t a solution to a failing earth but terraforming Mars is interesting and should be done

[shadowgolem]

With no magnetosphere, radiation will be a real and constant issue for anything trying to live there. Even minor solar storms would be very dangerous.

[_shadow_]

I think Mars is better than no backup plan. Even if us humans get everything sorted out on earth (pretty big stretch), it would be good to still have a fallback because there's still other threats that could sterilize our planet or at least make civilization as we know it impossible.

[dianacanales]

Too Short!!! Such a serious topic deserves longer a explainer! Plus, I just love time with Dr. Tyson & Lord Nice!! Excellent guest, too! Great arguments made for taking care of what we've got vs. just abandoning our earth in a mess, only to waste valuable resources someplace else. Asteroid scenario is also on point: Much less effort to deflect that kind of threat than to relocate to the next planet. Loved this episode of my favorite show!!❤🌎💫✨

[detectingohio]

I think it’s more than trying to turn mars into earth I think it’s learning to adapt to another planet even if civilization lives in a dome or underground if we can do it successfully then we can continue to expand across the universe and in the pursuit we will learn a lot on how to fix earth along the way also I must say part of the problem with fixing earth is u have a large part of the population making things worse while a small portion try’s to fix things

[ngneerin]

The reason to terraform Mars is not for any of these reasons you mentioned Neil, but it's for black swan event that may end human life or all life on earth. So having humans in two planets reduces the odds of extinction

[AmbrishSaxena]

What I feel is...

If we have the potential to make Mars like Earth, why don't we have the potential to fix Earth?!

[TheRotnflesh]

Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars. Great series by Kim Stanley Robinson that is GOING to be a reality if any terraform plan happens.

[RufotrisRootedRockhound]

Moving today while listening. I can’t even begin to think of relocation to Mars when across the United States is as much of a hassle and adjustment as it is… the thought of an entirely different way of life that would be so extremely confined for many many generations of the initial settling and expansion of bubble habitats etc… nope I’m out, no thank you… ok no idea what Neil is going to share with us today on the subject but I wanted to give my two cents on the subject before even watching. I’ll edit if I have anything to add.

[meetmadhu]

I think why people talk about terraforming Mars more than Earth is because it’ll be so much easier(comparatively) to do because no one is living on Mars so we can do anything we want, we won’t be tied down by restrictions. On Earth, there will be so much restrictions and can’t even afford tini-tiny mistake.

[icmann]

I think a decent reason to attempt to terraform Mars is that in the attempt to do so we stand to learn hopefully enough to be able to fix our climate problems that we have created here on earth.

[Schooterl]

Or we could fix earth and have an outpost on Mars. I just like the idea of having civilizations everywhere. Lol.

Would be pretty cool to see something in space and be able to get the Mars people to take a look from a different point.

[ManaBDew]

Possibly yes yet it’s a cold 🥶 challenge to do this safely. That’s where Perseverance comes in.
Ingenuity too!
Amazing to ponder 🤔

[frankspike]

@4:50 why not do both. And eventually many places. Space stations. Not about saving "this" civilization, but about saving the sentient specie that we are is the point, a very honorable one. Of course, taking care of our home is a major priority. Doesn't mean we can't do other stuff. Long term stuff, ofc.