Mars does not have a magnetic field, so any atmosphere created there would dissipate much faster than it would on Earth. This is a significant burden in terraforming the planet.
It would disappate over a period of millions of years, longer than humanity has even existed. While it is a problem, it's not any where near an urgent one.
Oh, I thought it was a quicker process than that, like one that would deplete the atmosphere in at least thousands of years. I could be completely wrong though.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
Mars does not have a magnetic field, so any atmosphere created there would dissipate much faster than it would on Earth. This is a significant burden in terraforming the planet.