STUDYFINDS - Earth would certainly be different without its rusty red neighbor. No Mars in the night sky, no target for future human exploration. Now, however, scientists say this scenario would result in much bigger changes than simply depriving humanity of a nearby planet to study.
According to the research, this scenario would fundamentally alter our planet’s climate history. Computer simulations spanning 100 million years reveal that Mars, despite being half Earth’s size and 140 million miles away, influences the pacing of ice ages through long-term gravitational interactions.
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, ran 22 different scenarios adjusting Mars’ mass from complete absence to ten times its current size. When they removed Mars entirely, one of Earth’s major climate rhythms disappeared.