With the technology and knowledge humanity
has today, humans have the opportunity to put an
end to global warming all
together. Venus, the hottest planet in the solar
system, has undergone what is
known as a ‘runaway greenhouse’ effect (Hyunju).
With an overall surface
temperature of 462 degrees Celsius (870 degrees
Fahrenheit) and an atmosphere
consisting almost entirely of CO2, Venus is uninhabitable.
The CO2
in
its atmosphere lets heat in, but doesn’t let it
escape, creating a not only
scorching, lifeless environment, but one with an
atmospheric pressure 90 times
that of Earth (Hyunju). The eminent adverse
effects that are coupled with
climate change and the toxic future environment,
similar to that of Venus, that
awaits Earth if greenhouse gas emissions continue,
do not have to be this
planet’s fate. It will take a worldwide effort to
bring human enacted global
warming to a halt, but it is necessary if humans
hope to survive on planet
Earth for much longer.
