Popular Science I believe just put out an interesting article about
various climate models for Earth which changed the orbit to various
degrees- one of them has a very elliptical orbit where Earth goes closer
to the sun than Venus and farther than Mars but still maintains
"Habitable" conditions because the oceans provide thermal mass (just
like the jugs and barrels in my greenhouse) to buffer the seasonal
extremes. Erie Pa is not so nice in the summer but highs in the 50s in
the winter sure sound nice.
So Mars, or an asteroid belt planet would be a more promising world if
it had more mass and oceans- colder but still hospitable in some
climate zones.
Sorry about the off topic but I couldn't resist!
Jeff from Mt Pleasant PA
Where the mild weather is today but will be gone tomorrow.
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