[SunkenCiv]

Terraforming can start right away! It gives you an idea of what the possibility of (former) life on mars are, if the average climate there used to be warmer.

The climate didn't used to be warmer, there's just some water there. :')

Due to the wisp of an atmosphere (it's about the same atmospheric pressure as at 40 miles altitude on Earth) the only way to have flowing water is for some heat source (such as the energy from an impact from space) to sublime the ice directly into vapor, which would provide a temporary atmosphere and microclimate, permitting liquid water to flow. That's consistent with what is seen on the surface -- erosion from streams that appeared from nowhere, flowed to nowhere, and went away to nowhere.

[S0122017]

"If they are actually water ice, they may shed light on the planet's past climate. The polar ice caps themselves are made of icy layers that researchers believe were laid down as snow during periodic swings in the planet's tilt – and therefore its climate – every 50,000 years. Plaut says studying the shape and thickness of the layers could reveal more about the nature of these climatic shifts."
End quote article.

[S0122017]

"If they are actually water ice, they may shed light on the planet's past climate. The polar ice caps themselves are made of icy layers that researchers believe were laid down as snow during periodic swings in the planet's tilt – and therefore its climate – every 50,000 years. Plaut says studying the shape and thickness of the layers could reveal more about the nature of these climatic shifts."
End quote article.