Venus Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the planet consists of 97 percent carbon dioxide and is so thick that the surface pressure is 96 bars (compared with 1 bar on Earth). The surface temperature on Venus varies little from place to place and is extremely hot, about 462°C (736 K/864°F). The high surface temperature is explained by an intense greenhouse effect . Even though only a small percentage of the solar energy that falls on Venus reaches the surface, the planet stays hot because the thick atmosphere prevents the energy from escaping. That nearly all of Venus's atmosphere is carbon dioxide is not as strange as it might seem; in fact, the crust of Earth contains almost as much carbon dioxide chemically bound in the form of limestone. About 3 percent of the Venusian atmosphere is nitrogen gas. By contrast, 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen . Water and water vapor are extremely rare on Venus. Many scientists argue that Venus, being closer to the Sun, was subjected to a so-called ru