Several planetary bodies in the solar system are of particular interest to planetary scientists because they may teach us more about the history of the solar system and the Earth itself. Among those is Venus, which is often referred to as Earth’s sister planet.
Venus is entirely unsuitable for human life today, but some scientists think that Venus was once habitable like the Earth and that the planet’s climate took a turn for the worst at some point in its history.
Some scientists even think that Venus exhibits plate tectonics, which is often vital to a world’s habitability, among other things. By studying these, scientists may be able to discern just how habitable Venus once was, which could be important for understanding what the world was once like and how its environment got to be as ominous as it is today.
Furthermore, given just how much Earth and Venus have in common, understanding how Venus became what it is today could tell us more about the Earth’s future. After all, our continued billowing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere could create similar greenhouse effects that we see on Venus.
It’s particularly captivating to think that studying one of our neighboring planets in the solar system may tell us more about our planet’s fate. Wouldn’t you agree?
