Replies

> Can we do it?

Yes.

> Should we do it?

Yes. (What, you wouldn't amke a desert island bloom if you could?)

> Is it anti-God, unethical?

No more than turnign a desert into a farm is unethical.

> Since global warming is probably bunk, does that negate this entire concept?

A: "Global warming" isn't bunk. Human-created global warmign may well be.
B: The greenhouse effect is well understood. Ask anyone with a greenhouse.
C: The requirements for global warming on the scale of Mars are *vast*, and wholly unlike a bunch of belching SUV's.

> Robert Zubrin had several talks with Newt Gingrich ...

Do not overestimate the relevance of Zubrin. He has burned just about every bridge he has ever come near.

C: The requirements for global warming on the scale of Mars are *vast*, and wholly unlike a bunch of belching SUV's.

It would take a vast fleet of SUVs so large that they would need a crew of dozens just to navigate and maneuver ;-)

There is a trilogy of books about Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson that gets into this. They were going to use things like bacteria/plants, and what not to do it, and it was going to take quite a while before it was noticeable. He made the point that you wouldn't necessarily have to go whole-hog - that you could work on an atmosphere for low-lying areas, or work with large domes over craters.

It's interesting to think about it. I think we'll see people on Mars in our lifetime - people like Burt Rutan are going to make it happen.