Here’s a soil problem we don’t have to worry about just yet, but it’s interesting nevertheless. Scientists are speculating that the reason Mars no longer has water is because of dust storms.  

As this article explains, the planet once had oceans that covered about a fifth of its surface, but magnetic changes some four billion years ago caused it to lose much of its atmosphere. Dust storms—some large enough to encompass the whole planet—were then able to lift water vapor high above the surface, sending particles as high as 50 miles up, where solar radiation caused the water molecules to break into hydrogen and oxygen atoms, most of which were lost to space.  

Although the water-destroying dust storms occurred billions of years ago, such storms still occur on Mars and in fact are responsible for shutting down a NASA rover last year. The rover Opportunity had been on the surface of Mars since 2004, but an extended dust storm blocked the sun’s rays and prevented the device’s solar arrays from recharging. You can read a more detailed explanation of what happened to Opportunity and see images here.  

Dust storms that cover virtually the entire surface of Mars aren’t uncommon; we’ve seen at least eight of them in the last 40 years. Scientists have also recently observed similar dust storms on Saturn’s moon Titan.