Answer 1:
Interesting question! I don’t think that Venus’
atmosphere would be friendly to humans or plants.
One major difference between the atmospheres of
Venus and Earth is that Venus’ atmosphere is
made up mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2),
while Earth’s is made up mostly of nitrogen
(N2). Plants use CO2
from the atmosphere to grow and store energy, but
just because Venus has more CO2 than
Earth doesn’t mean that it would be a good place
for plants to live. Another important part of
photosynthesis (how plants use CO2 to
grow and store energy) is sunlight. Sunlight
provides the energy that drives the chemical
reactions of photosynthesis. Venus has a very
dense atmosphere (the pressure on the surface is
about 90 times greater than at the surface of
Earth; (Hamblin & Christiansen, 2004), and I think
this would probably block a lot of the visible
light that plants use in photosynthesis.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning
that it traps energy from sunlight and makes the
planet hot, so the surface temperature of Venus is
almost 500°C (Hamblin & Christiansen, 2004).
That’s really hot! Also, Venus has very little
water and a lot of sulfuric acid in its
atmosphere. Because the atmosphere of Venus is
dense, hot, and acidic, I don’t think that plants
would be “happy” there. Of course, neither would
humans.
reference
Hamblin, W.K. & Christiansen, E.H. (2004). Earth’s
Dynamic Systems. New Jersey: Pearson Education,
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Answer 2:
The atmosphere of Venus contains lots of carbon
dioxide, which is what plants use to make food and
"breathe." So plants would like it more than we
would. Still, the temperatures are around 800
degrees F, the pressure is nearly a hundred times
that of Earth, and it rains acid. So really plants
wouldn't even like that atmosphere as a place to
live. It is even hard to land probes on since it
is such a violent place.
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Answer 3:
It's not. The atmosphere of Venus would kill
any living thing, plant or animal, from Earth that
tried to live there.
Most of the atmosphere of Venus is carbon
dioxide, which plants could use for photosynthesis
if the rest of the atmosphere were more habitable
or there weren't too much carbon dioxide, but that
much carbon dioxide and no oxygen is toxic to
plants.
The thickness of the Venusian atmosphere is
also why Venus is so hot; it's the greenhouse
effect, but so powerful as to make the planet
unliveable, unlike Earth which might become merely
uncomfortable with global warming. Click Here to return to the search form.
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