Dec 2, 2024, 4:00 PM
Dec 2, 2024, 4:00 PM

New research reveals Venus never hosted oceans

Highlights
  • Research from the University of Cambridge suggests Venus has never had surface liquid water.
  • The planet's interior lacks hydrogen, indicating it is drier than Earth.
  • Conclusively, the studies imply that Venus has been inhospitable for life for most of its history.
Story

In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of Cambridge concluded that Venus has never been able to support liquid water on its surface. The study challenges long-held beliefs about the planet's past, particularly regarding the possibility of it having a temperate climate conducive to liquid oceans. For many years, there has been an ongoing scientific debate concerning the history of water on Venus, with some theories suggesting that it may have once harbored surface water. However, the findings from this new research indicate that the conditions required for liquid water to exist were never present. Scientists modeled the current atmospheric chemical composition of Venus and found significant differences when compared to Earth's atmosphere. One notable discovery was that Venus's interior is lacking in hydrogen, pointing towards a much drier environment than that of Earth. The implications of this suggest that any water vapor present in Venus's atmosphere would not have condensed to form liquid water on the surface, instead remaining as steam at high temperatures. Further examination of Venus reveals it to be an inhospitable environment. The planet is characterized by extreme temperatures averaging around 465 degrees Celsius (869 degrees Fahrenheit) and is subjected to pressures 90 times greater than those found at sea level on Earth. In addition to this, Venus is perpetually enveloped in thick clouds made up of sulfuric acid, which adds to its hellish reputation. These inhospitable conditions raise serious doubts regarding the planet's ability to have ever supported life as we know it. The findings of this study contrast with previous hypotheses that proposed a very different climate on ancient Venus. For example, research conducted in 2016 by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies suggested the possibility of habitable conditions on the planet at some point in its history. This new research, however, strongly refutes these claims and builds upon additional studies indicating that Venus has been uninhabitable for more than 70% of its geological history. Taken together, this body of research helps to form a clearer picture of Venus's climatic evolution, further solidifying its status as one of the most extreme environments in our solar system.

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