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Influencing a planet's global environments

Planetary engineering is the development and application of technology for the purpose of influencing the environment of a planet. Planetary engineering encompasses a variety of methods such as terraforming, seeding, and geoengineering. Widely discussed in the scientific community, terraforming refers to the alteration of other planets to create a habitable environment for terrestrial life. Seeding refers to the introduction of life from Earth to habitable planets. Geoengineering refers to the engineering of a planet's climate, and has already been applied on Earth. Each of these methods are composed of varying approaches and possess differing levels of feasibility and ethical concern.

Terraforming is the process of modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body in order to replicate the environment of Earth.

A common object of discussion on potential terraforming is the planet Mars. To terraform Mars, humans would need to create a new atmosphere, due to the planet's high carbon dioxide concentration and low atmospheric pressure. This would be possible by introducing more greenhouse gases to below "freezing point from indigenous materials". To terraform Venus, carbon dioxide would need to be converted to graphite since Venus receives twice as much sunlight as Earth. This process is only possible if the greenhouse effect is removed with the use of "high altitude absorbing fine particles" or a sun shield, creating a more habitable Venus. These topics include creating power efficient systems for preserving and packaging  food for crews, preparing and cooking foods, dispensing water, and developing facilities for rest, trash and recycling, and areas for crew hygiene and rest. This gas has been thought to be stored in solid and liquid form within Mars' polar ice caps and underground reservoirs. It is unlikely, however, that enough for sufficient atmospheric change is present within Mars' polar deposits, and liquid could only be present at warmer temperatures "deep within the crust". Due to the high presence of sulfuric acid and solar wind on Venus, which are harmful to organic environments, organic methods of carbon conversion have been found unfeasible. Also, some argue that through the steps that are necessary to make Mars habitable such as fusion reactors, space based solar powered lasers, or spreading a thin layer of soot on Mars' polar ice caps would deteriorate the current aesthetic value that Mars possesses. This calls into question humanity's intrinsic ethical and moral values, as it raises the question of whether humanity is willing to eradicate the current ecosystem of another planet for their benefit. Through this ethical framework, terraforming attempts on these planets could be seen to threaten their intrinsically valuable environments, rendering these efforts unethical.]]

Mars is the primary subject of discussion for seeding. Locations for seeding are chosen based on atmospheric temperature, air pressure, existence of harmful radiation, and availability of natural resources, such as water and other compounds essential to terrestrial life.

Natural or engineered microorganisms must be created or discovered that can withstand the harsh environments of Mars. The first organisms used must be able to survive exposure to ionizing radiation and the high concentration of present in the Martian atmosphere.

Geoengineering, or climate engineering, is a form of planetary engineering which involves the process of deliberate and large scale alteration of the Earth's climate system to combat climate change. Examples of geoengineering are carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the use of space mirrors to reflect solar energy to space. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) has multiple practices, the simplest being reforestation, to more complex processes such as direct air capture. The latter is rather difficult to deploy on an industrial scale, for high costs and substantial energy usage would be some aspects to address. This results in a cooling effect, and humanity could conceivably inject these aerosols into the stratosphere, spurring large scale cooling. By reflecting light from the sun, this process could help offset anthropogenic global warming, which threatens the lives of all human beings and life on Earth. One proposal involves spraying a vapor into low laying sea clouds, creating more cloud condensation nuclei. This would in theory result in the cloud becoming whiter, and reflecting light more efficiently.