Venus Earths “Hot” Future.ppt

Venus: Earth’s “Hot” Future? Overview Similarities to Earth Differences from Earth Current situations of both planets (recap) The “dry” runaway greenhouse effect The “wet” runaway greenhouse effect How they relate to Earth Skeptics of either/or scenarios on Earth An example of it already happening Similarities Orbital radius is 70% that of Earth’s. Planetary radius is 95% of Earth’s. One of the inner “rocky planets” Has similar mass and density. Surface features of highlands and lowlands. Abundant atmosphere. Geological processes still continue (volcanoes, etc) Akna Mountains Venus Northern Hemisphere (radar imaging) Differences Makes one axial rotation every 243 Earth days. Orbits in retrograde motion. Tilted 177.4 degrees compared to Earth’s 23.5 degrees. Atmosphere 90 times more massive than Earth’s. Very high atmospheric concentration of CO2 Has very low amounts of hydrogen. Current Situations Venus: Barren wasteland Avg. Temp of 900° F 96.5% of atmosphere is CO2 No water Clouds of sulfuric acid Behaves as it was expected to Earth: Supports life Avg. Temp of 57 ° F 0.04% of atmosphere is CO2 Abundant water Clouds of water vapor Deviates from expected behavior Why is this so? Venus and Earth both formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago and given their similarities, should have turned out the same, but they do not. Why didn’t they? How is it that Earth can support life when Venus is completely hostile to it? The answer: Global warming. Two Runaway Greenhouse Effects “Dry” Runaway Greenhouse Effect – no liquid water. “Wet” Runaway Greenhouse Effect – liquid water present. “Dry” Effect Venus was closer to the sun and this proximity didn’t allow water to condense. Since no water condensed, carbon dioxide could not be taken out of the atmosphere by oceans. Outgasing from the planet (through volcanoes) would continue to increase amounts of CO2 and water vapor in the atmosphere. This heating leads to whatever water vapor present to rise to the top o the atmosphere.