Terraforming Mars: A Cabinet of Curiosities

Beech, Martin

doi:10.1002/9781119761990.ch18

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Unlike biological invasions on Earth, this aspect is still very thinly represented in the scientific literature (e.g. Beech et al, 2021), and far more so in the media. The long-term human survival angle, in the event of catastrophe on Earth, should certainly help with enlisting a large proportion of the readership in favour of terraformation (Harmsen, 2021), even though this represents a flagrant case of altering the natural state of affairs.…”

Section: The Cold and The Alienmentioning

confidence: 99%

Naturally low biodiversity is getting a raw deal in the media

Procheş

2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While media usage has helped biodiversity gain a central spot in the contemporary conservation landscape, it is acknowledged that high biodiversity in itself is not always the best indication of conservation value. There are multiple reasons why low-biodiversity systems have to be valued. Such systems are easier to appreciate by the general public in their entirety, and also easier to study, with most model systems referring to low numbers of species. In remote and environmentally harsh settings, biodiversity can increase via biological invasion, which is usually perceived as a negative anthropogenic impact. Island systems, typically lower in biodiversity compared to continental settings, are, specifically thanks to the available niche space, laboratories of speciation and potentially macroevolutionary innovation. Although biodiversity hotspots are at the centre of global conservation efforts, coldspots have their own dynamics and conservation needs, generally poorly understood at this stage due to the high-biodiversity focus. Here, I discuss the media relevance and, where applicable, distortion, of these aspects. I conclude by recommending a local rather than global focus in the marketing of conservation, which could encourage an appreciation of naturally low biodiversity.

show abstract

Section: The Cold and The Alienmentioning

confidence: 99%

Naturally low biodiversity is getting a raw deal in the media

Procheş

2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Concurrently, philosophers and science fiction writers have wondered if other “habitable worlds”—if or when discovered—will exactly resemble earth, or the ways they might differ. Questions have also focused on the possibilities (and attendant ethical implications) of terraforming, and whether Mars or other planets could ever be transformed from their current state and made habitable for humans (Beech, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Histories of habitability from the oikoumene to the Anthropocene

Fleetwood¹

2023

WIREs Climate Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report warns in stark terms that many long inhabited parts of the world are now on course to become uninhabitable. As astronomers continue to search the universe for new habitable planets, it is equally essential to historicize the consequences of changing habitability on this one. This article reviews how scholars have engaged with the widely noted but rarely theorized categories of “habitability” and “uninhabitability.” While tracing longer imperial genealogies, the primary focus is on notions of habitability in relation to European global empires in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and their postcolonial legacies. The article traces three key themes in the literature: that habitability was inherently limited, and beyond those limits allegedly lay uninhabitability; that habitability was differential and that certain places were habitable for some groups but not others (but that this might be changed by technological interventions); and finally, that the limits of habitability were not static, but could change for both better and worse. Here the links between colonialism and ideas of acclimatization, terraforming, “improvement,” deliberate uninhabitability, and an “Anthropocene” have all been central to the literature. These have often been closely associated with insidious forms of environmental determinism, which are taking on new forms in an age of crisis (especially in narratives around climate and migration). By drawing together previously disparate literatures, this article ultimately calls on scholars to embrace habitability studies more widely, and to expand on their interdisciplinary potential for communicating the societal consequences of a changing climate.This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and Knowledge

show abstract

Terraforming Mars: A Cabinet of Curiosities

Cited by 2 publications

References 54 publications

Naturally low biodiversity is getting a raw deal in the media

Naturally low biodiversity is getting a raw deal in the media

Histories of habitability from the oikoumene to the Anthropocene

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About