Of desert planets, terraforming, and ecology as the science of the shared world – visions for a livable Earth

This is the English translation of a text of mine, which Dr. Michael Blume kindly published as a guest blog post on his science blog „Natur des Glaubens” (1).

In the science fiction novel series „Dune“ by Frank Herbert, many themes are addressed that are highly relevant today. One important message is the warning against political and religious messianism, which Michael Blume discussed in an earlier blog post on „Natur des Glaubens“. But „Dune“ offers even more: a compelling depiction of the challenges and dangers of terraforming, which can inspire us to reflect on our own future.

In the 1950s, the physicist Enrico Fermi posed the famous question in light of the vast number of stars in the universe: „Where is everybody?“ – why haven't we made contact with extraterrestrial civilizations? This question is even more pressing today, as thousands of extrasolar planetary systems have been discovered since the 1990s. This so-called Fermi Paradox has since inspired many reflections (book recommendation). One possible answer is that Earth and the emergence of life are an extremely rare stroke of luck. Our planet is at just the right distance from the Sun, and geological processes like plate tectonics contribute to the long-term stability of the climate by ensuring that the Earth's system repeatedly self-regulates out of extreme, life-hostile conditions.

The sediment layers in the French Jura contain carbon that was once part of the Earth's atmosphere. The distinctive folding illustrates the dynamic processes of the Earth's crust, which have kept the climate within a life-friendly range for billions of years. The geological cycle, which describes the development between two supercontinent phases, takes about 250 million years—exactly as long as our solar system takes to orbit the center of the galaxy. This phenomenon is illustrated in the starry sky of the photo. Those who have read the text to the end may agree with the statement that the Earth has been „terraforming“ itself for billions of years.

Another possible answer to Fermi's question is that while life on other planets may not be so rare, the development of intelligent civilizations capable of interstellar communication or space travel requires many additional, extremely unlikely steps—a hypothesis known as the „Great Filter.“ Humanity could currently be in the highly unfavorable position of destroying its own life-supporting environment before developing the ability for interstellar travel. The ongoing climate change, triggered by the burning of fossil fuels, is bringing us dangerously close to a point where Earth could become uninhabitable for humans (2).

In light of such dystopian visions of the future, the idea of terraforming—the „concept of altering a planet's environment to make it suitable for human habitat“ (Geoffrey A. Landis)—almost seems like a necessity. If we irreversibly damage Earth, other planets could serve as a refuge for humanity.

The following terraforming visions exist for our two neighboring planets:

For Mars, which is currently a cold desert planet, one possibility being discussed is releasing carbon dioxide from the polar caps to trigger a greenhouse effect and raise the planet's temperature. Elon Musk even proposed melting the polar caps with thermonuclear bombs—a radical idea I would call „brute-force“ terraforming. Less extreme approaches suggest using mirrors in space to intensify sunlight on Mars in a targeted way.

There are also terraforming concepts for Venus, whose surface temperature is nearly 500 degrees Celsius and atmospheric pressure exceeds 90 bar, but which may have once had an Earth-like climate. In the 1960s, Carl Sagan proposed mitigating Venus’s extreme greenhouse effect by using bacteria, but he later revised this idea (in his book Pale Blue Dot). Today, we know that the atmospheric pressure on Venus is even higher than previously thought. Geoffrey A. Landis summarizes modern Venus terraforming ideas, including the possibility of directing asteroids toward Venus to strip away its dense atmosphere.

Terraforming concepts pose significant challenges and risks: it remains unclear whether a terraformed planet would be habitable in the long term. On Venus, the lack of plate tectonics could trigger a renewed extreme greenhouse effect, even if the atmosphere is temporarily stabilized. On Mars, a created atmosphere could escape due to the low gravity and absence of a magnetic field.

Another issue is the focus on technological and scientific aspects while neglecting the human dimension—as if we could shape a life-friendly planet at will. This perspective is reminiscent of the hubris of figures like Elon Musk. However, the real challenge lies in understanding the interdependence between humans and ecosystems—the concept of the „shared world“(3). Given our limited capacity for rational and long-term thinking, terraforming seems unrealistic as a multi-generational project.

Additionally, the question remains as to who would control these technologies. The idea that — for example, in the case of space mirrors — a billionaire could steer the fate of entire planets from a space station, as in James Bond – Moonraker, is by no means reassuring.

A more nuanced and forward-thinking exploration of the concept of terraforming can be found in Frank Herbert's science fiction epic „Dune“. In this story, set thousands of years in the future, humanity has evolved into an interstellar species, thus overcoming another barrier of the „Great Filter“. The main setting is the dry, barren planet „Arrakis“, where life forms have evolved to adapt to the extreme conditions—such as the massive sandworms in the desert. On this desert planet, whose ecosystem is intricately detailed throughout the novel series, the sand develops its own dynamics, following principles similar to those of water on Earth. For instance, the massive sandworms move through the desert sand much like fish do in Earth's oceans (4).

Arrakis suffers from the exploitation of the valuable substance „spice“, which puts significant strain on the ecosystem – a classic resource curse (5). The native Fremen have developed sophisticated survival strategies like stillsuits, which recycle bodily fluids. Their deep understanding of the ecosystem allows them to carefully terraform the desert, working mindfully with plants and animals. However, this development threatens the sandworms, which are essential for spice production. Herbert's novel warns of the risks of exploiting natural resources and highlights the uncertainties of terraforming, emphasizing the importance of understanding complex ecosystems. Interventions in planetary systems can have unintended and dangerous consequences. The first planetologist of Arrakis, Pardot Kynes, says, „the highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences“ („Der Wüstenplanet“ by Frank Herbert; translated by Jakob Schmidt, Heyne, München, edition 02, 2016, p. 751, freely translated back to English).

Frank Herbert was inspired to write Dune by his experiences with the sand dunes on the Oregon coast, whose advance threatened entire towns. As literary scholar Devin Griffiths points out, the massive dune formation was likely triggered by landscape changes during the California Gold Rush, once again highlighting the curse of resource exploitation. To counter this development, measures such as planting grasses were implemented. In doing so, the knowledge and experiences of the Indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest in grass cultivation were utilized. Today, the drawbacks of such measures, such as the introduction of invasive species, are also recognized. This episode in North American landscape history illustrates the complexity of ecological interventions and shows that such measures can have profound and often unpredictable consequences—similar to terraforming projects. In this context, Griffiths, with his subtle and far-sighted definition of terraforming, captures the essence of the issue:

„Terraforming is one name for a huge range of ways the Earth might be reshaped: from the wholesale destruction of environments in the service of resource extraction to the rational imprinting of human infrastructures to more collaborative modes of shaping, practices of 'making-with' that can include human and nonhuman partners.“

Conclusion

I believe that we can learn many lessons from Dune:

In Dune, we are presented with an idea of terraforming that goes beyond technical aspects and connects indigenous perspectives with a deep ecological awareness. The terraforming driven by the Fremen is based on an understanding of ecology that centers on the „shared world“—the interconnectedness of humans and nature—seeing humans as part of a shared habitat. This awareness of the interconnectedness of all living beings and ecosystems could inspire us to find a positive approach for the Earth.

Instead of emulating the grandiose terraforming plans of individual billionaires, we should promote a slow, adaptive transformation on Earth that respects cultural and religious values like humility and modesty. A „positive terraforming“ on Earth could be envisioned as more complex, with greater inclusion of human actors. Dune reminds us that manipulations of ecosystems are always fraught with uncertainties and can become dangerous in the hands of a few. It is time for us, as a community, to take responsibility and work in small steps to preserve the pleasant climate of the Holocene. Let us follow the motto: „No one can do everything, but everyone can do something“ — and together, create a sustainable future.