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Venus - Lessons for earthThe old idea that Venus might possess surface conditions to those of an overcast earth has been thoroughly refuted by space-age measurements. Instead, the two planets may have started out similar, but diverged because of the greater solar flux at Venus. This cannot be proved, but is consistent with everything known. A runaway greenhouse effect could have evaporated an 'ocean'. The hydrogen would escape, and most of the oxygen would be incorporated into the crust. Without liquid water, CO2 would remain in the atmosphere. Chlorine atoms would catalyze the recombination of any free oxygen back to CO2. The same theories apply to the future of the earth, and to the explanation of the polar ozone holes; the analogies are striking. There is no likelihood that the earth will actually come to resemble Venus, but Venus serves both as a warning that major environmental effects can flow from seemingly small causes, and as a testbed for the predictive models of the earth.
Document ID
19920069508
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hunten, D. M.
(Arizona, University Tucson, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Advances in Space Research
Volume: 12
Issue: 9 Se
ISSN: 0273-1177
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
92A52132
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG2-143
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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