... climate system, also affects Venus' climate. Based on several scientific exploration missions, we now know much more about Venus' climate than ever before. In our solar system, no planet more closely resembles Earth than does Venus. Not only is it located in an orbit very near our own, it is also roughly ... more we learned about our "sister," the more we realized that Venus is almost nothing like the planet we inhabit. Venus has a thick layer of constant cloud cover that reflects 85% of all the sunlight reaching the planet. This not only makes Venus the brightest object in the night sky...

• Word Count: 2107
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... it is today. When Earth was formed it was a ball of molten rock with a thin atmosphere consisting of hydrogen and helium. These gases quickly escaped from the atmosphere because of solar wind, extreme heat and the ultra-light weight of these elements. When the gases escaped, Earth was left without an atmosphere. However, Earth was slowly evolving. The Earth had ... constant geological activity that created extreme volcanism. The volcanoes spewed out gases that went into the atmosphere. The two most important gases were H2O and CO2. The H2O collected in the ... ...

• Word Count: 331
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School