Some questions about Mars' temperature?

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Ella

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Why is Mars so cold when it has so much carbon dioxide in its atmosphere? Surely that should make it warmer? Like how on Earth global warming is caused by too much co2.
Is it something to do with how far Mars is from the sun?
Or is it to do with the thickness of Mars' atmosphere?

And, hypothetically, how would one warm Mars up?

Sorry, that sounds like a stupid question, but I'm curious - they keep talking about how there's so much frozen water on Mars, and I'm wondering if it would ever be possible to tap that resource?
 
Ella, no question is ever stupid.

You are right to think it has to do with the thickness of the atmosphere (call it density). There is CO2 yes, but the density is so low that it makes little difference.

You see, there are two main missing pieces to this puzzle. Low gravity and lack of a magnetic field. Remember that Mars is only half as big as Earth. The gravity on Mars is only one eighth that on Earth. Because of its size and other events Earth has a bigger iron core that remains molten producing a magnetic field that serves a a shield from solar radiation and protects our atmosphere from being blown away into space.

Mars lacks these two important elements. It lacks the mass (size) to have enough gravity to hold on to the atmosphere and lacks a magnetic field to protect it from the Sun.

All you see on TV about terraforming Mars is wishful thinking. Only by building huge green houses or living under ground. But then again, plants need gravity and sunlight to grow, both minimal in Mars, let alone the soil condition and bacterial medium required in the soil. So chances are really slim.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but for now we are stuck to this rock.
 
The reason for coldness on Mars is the distance from the Sun, and thin atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure on Mars' surface equals the pressure found 35 km above the Earth's surface. This is less than 1% of the surface pressure on Earth. The thin atmosphere cannot store much solar heat. The Martian soil doesn't keep the sun's heat that good either.

The Martial year is almost twice as long as the Earth's, which leads to extreme cold temperatures in winter. Still, during summer temperature is around 20 °C (68 °F).
 
Manny has the right of it. Couple that with the fact that Mars receives a bit less that 1/4 of the amount of the Suns heat that the Earth does and you have the makings of a fairly cold world.

Doug
 
1]mars ?s far away from the sun to earth to mars takes 6 months

2]CO2 does make th?ngs warm but ?ts got a really th?n atmoshere

3]see answer 1]

4]see answer 2]

5]dont understand that quest?on

6}?t not really a dum quest?on. ?n the south pole theres water that ?s carbon d?ox?de and ?n the north ?ts fresh but a b?t of CO2 astronomer ?s try?ng to burst ?s but ?ts not really easy to do.
 
http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/temperature-of-mars/
http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/how-cold-is-mars/
http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/what-is-mars-made-of/
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/23/mars-was-recently-blanketed-by-glaciers/
http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/mars/earth-and-mars/

If you bother to read through the above you will find almost all your questions answered.
 
1)The reason why Mars is cold despite having a 95.32% Carbon Dioxide atmosphere is because its atmosphere is so thin.

2) No, its because of its thin atmosphere (see answer 1).

3) Yes as its temperature has a lot to do with the density of its atmosphere, which is not very dense at all and ergo has a low pressure.

4) Mars could be Terra formed by adding large amounts of Carbon Dioxide to its atmosphere that would make its atmosphere more dense (thick) enough for the greenhouse effect to be sufficient enough to warm it up. This process would take many centuries.

If you want to make Mars inhabitable by animals and humans once the planet's atmosphere has warmed enough plants could be introduced that would turn the CO2 into Oxygen through photosynthesis that animals and humans could breathe. This probably take longer than heating Mars in the first place.

5) Astronauts could "tap" frozen water on Mars. Mars gets no warmer than -5 degrees Celsius but it is more than just a case of heating it as the planets atmosphere pressure is to low to allow water to become a liquid. It would have to be put into a pressurised environment first, a suitable environment for a person to live in would be the correct pressure for water to become a liquid when heated above freezing.



Its coldest surface temperature is -87 degrees Celsius and has a maximum surface temperature of -5 degrees C. Its average surface temperature is -46 degrees C.
 
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