The hypothetical planetary engineering process of deliberately modifying a planet's atmosphere, temperature, surface topography, and ecology to make it habitable for Earth-like life. It is the ultimate long-term project, taking centuries or millennia, using methods like introducing greenhouse gases to warm a frozen world, redirecting comets to deliver water, or seeding genetically engineered microbes to produce oxygen. It's playing god on a planetary scale, with untold risks and moral implications about the rights of any existing native life.
Example: The classic literary example of Terraforming is Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, which details the centuries-long process of warming Mars, creating a breathable atmosphere, and establishing a biosphere. It's the transformation of a dead rock into a living world, a second Genesis for humanity.
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026
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