On what basis do we make decisions on the preservation or utilization of such lifeless landscapes? Here I suggest that static lifeless landscapes on other worlds have some parallels on Earth in the upper elevations of the Antarctic Dry Valleys and the central depression of the Atacama Desert in Chile and Peru. However, when we consider the Moon, Mars, and other worlds we encounter profoundly static and lifeless nature with essentially no history of human interaction. Environmental ethics and policy have been largely developed around the concept of nature as a dynamic collection of living beings in direct interaction with humans.
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