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We all know that Earth’s population is growing at an alarming rate, and vital resources are becoming scarce. There simply isn’t enough space to grow the food the bulging human populations will need in the future. An energy crisis is also upon us. What happens when the oil runs out or becomes too costly to support us in the lifestyles to which we’ve become accustomed? What do we do? There are no easy solutions. Planned population growth would certainly be a possible solution, but there are probably already too many mouths too feed, and few nations would be willing to pass or enforce laws limiting their country’s birth rate. Some scientists have suggested the answer lies in humankind’s spacefaring nature and fantastic engineering capabilities. We know that there are other terrestrial bodies in our Solar System that share some features with Earth. Can they be made habitable, or at least be used to grow food or supply energy to Earth’s expanding populations? What would it take? Which of those bodies are our best hope? Can we create an atmosphere where there is none or change a poisonous atmosphere to one we can breathe? These and other questions concerning modern-day realities and the future possibilities of terraforming—the science of making of new worlds (even extrasolar ones) habitable for humans—are tackled in this engrossing and revealing study by Martin Beech.

Planets --- Space colonies. --- Environmental engineering. --- Physics. --- Planetology. --- Atmospheric sciences. --- Observations, Astronomical. --- Astronomy --- Space sciences. --- Astronomy. --- Astronomy, Observations and Techniques. --- Popular Science in Astronomy. --- Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences. --- Atmospheric Sciences. --- Physical sciences --- Space sciences --- Science and space --- Space research --- Cosmology --- Science --- Astronomical observations --- Observations, Astronomical --- Aerophysics --- Atmospheric sciences --- Physical meteorology --- Geophysics --- Planetary sciences --- Planetology --- Natural philosophy --- Philosophy, Natural --- Dynamics --- Observations. --- Colonies, Space --- Communities, Space --- Habitats, Space --- Space communities --- Space habitats --- Astronautics and civilization --- Colonization --- Large space structures (Astronautics) --- Extraterrestrial bases --- Space stations --- Ecopoiesis --- Planetary engineering --- Terraforming --- Environmental engineering --- Space colonies --- Astrophysics. --- Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics). --- Astronomical physics --- Cosmic physics --- Physics --- Astronomy—Observations. --- Earth sciences --- Atmosphere