Releasing greenhouse gases into the martian atmosphere could produce a habitable environment on the Red Planet, a new study by a graduate student at Caltech says.
Science fiction has presented the idea of creating an Earthlike atmosphere and climate on Mars since the 1940s, and Carl Sagan and others brought the notion into the scientific realm in the ' 70s. Now Margarita Marinova's paper provides details about four specific gases that could trigger a runaway greenhouse effect on Mars, warming the planet, releasing frozen carbon dioxide and beginning a millenn ia- long shift to Earthlike conditions.

The idea is highly controversial. But Marinova, who did her work as a research assistant at NASA's Ames Research Center, said, "By the approaches we suggest, you're basically reverting Mars to its past environment ... any dormant life on Mars would be given another chance to live.'
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