Martian Atmosphere Could Be Artificially Warmed

According to the American Geophysical Union, the atmosphere of Mars might be able to be artificially warmed using gases that are present in the surface of the planet. Humans would have to travel to Mars to extract the gases and inject them in to the atmosphere, which would be easier and much more feasible than transporting the enormous quantities from Earth.

Specifically, the article explains that "they found that a compound known as octafluoropropane, whose chemical formula is C3F8, produced the greatest warming, while its combination with several similar gases enhanced the warming even further". The greenhouse effect would probably take hundreds of years to complete, but the surface temperature would eventually be warmed to hospitable, earthlike conditions. It is also predicted that any dormant life that might exist could become active and evolve into new forms of life (over a long period of time).

This article is a couple of years old, but still is pretty interesting. It looks like human colonies on Mars are more feasible than a lot of people might think,although the author considers this particularly interesting for the study of evolution.