If Venus and Earth outgassed a similar amount of CO2 early in their histories, why are their surface temperatures so different today?
a. Venus didn’t contain any water, so couldn’t be dissolved and converted into sediments. Therefore, the runaway greenhouse effect made its surface much hotter.
b. Venus was closer to the Sun, water tended to be in the atmosphere rather than in oceans, and couldn’t be dissolved. Therefore, the runaway greenhouse effect made the surface of Venus much hotter
c. Venus’s moon fell onto the planet with a catastrophic impact, producing massive ejecta and increasing the abundance of in the atmosphere. Therefore, the greenhouse effect made its surface much hotter.
d. Venus didn’t have a detectable magnetic field, so the solar wind reached Venus’s surface and evaporated additional from the crust, increasing the greenhouse effect and making its surface much hotter.
Answer: b. Venus was closer to the Sun, water tended to be in the atmosphere rather than in oceans, and couldn’t be dissolved. Therefore, the runaway greenhouse effect made the surface of Venus much hotter.
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