People dreamed of meeting dinosaurs on Venus. And that just until recently / in the meantime, Venus has become a dark warning to Earth

No 100 years ago, there was a common belief, both among scientists, and not only among them, that Venus would be populated with dinosaurs. As a 1946 American newspaper reported, “if you want to meet a diplodocus, Venus is your destination.”

It was precisely the fascination of these dinosaurs that led to awareness of climatic changes on Earth, reports Bigthink.

In addition to the fact that it has almost identical dimensions with those of the Earth, the Earth's twin, Venus has a reflective atmosphere that makes it shine even in the early hours of the morning. In addition, the clouds that surround the entire planet completely hide its surface, which makes it impenetrable for traditional telescopes.

A planet “Tabula Rasa”

Unlike Mars, whose atmosphere is extremely thin, the dense atmosphere of Venus allowed it to become a “race tabula” that the fantasies of scientists and dreamers could be designed. The planet thus became a favorite place to “explore”, where many could not imagine that the hidden surface is lively.

Venus was considered a mirror of the Earth, with species that would have evolved in similar ways. By the end of the 1800s, everyone accepts the idea that planets have stories. That they are born, grow old and die. But it was not yet understood that the planets can have very different stories. It was assumed that the planets in the solar system represent early and late versions of the same evolutionary stories.

In this vision, Mars, more distant from the sun, was considered the senior of the Earth, while Venus, as the “young version” of the Earth, was seen as a planet in a prehistoric era, where dinosaurs and other reptiles.

Dinosaurs on Venus

Probably the earliest example of the imagination of dinosaurs on Venus was the Victorian novel “Journey to Venus” of 1895, of the Amrican doctor and the SF literature enthusiast, Gustavus W. Pope. And with a behavior that perfectly render the attitudes of the time, all the protagonists of the novel will only hunt and kill the huge beasts.

Shortly after, Venusian dinosaurs have become integrated into more serious scientific theories. In 1924, the popular science Monthly magazine stated that our neighbor “could be lush in vegetation and dominated by monsters.”

The illustrations that accompanied this article included Venusian creatures rather dragons than dinosaurs, which also possessed a fire breathing.

The dream of hunting dinosaurs

The dream of a Venus with dinosaurs continued to be fed until the 1940s. Children's books added the idea that each planet is going through stages of the same “life histories”, and emphasized that Venus, being “young,” will shelter beings “long disappeared on earth.”

In 1950, a man sent a letter to Hayden Planetarium in New York, expressing his desire to go on a “rocket trip” to Venus, because he wanted to find out if “there are really dinosaurs living on it.”

As the spatial era made its presence felt, Venus could be promoted as a tourist destination. Fictitious brochures suggested visits to zoos or “big creature hunt”. Thus, the Victorian dream of hunting dinosaurs until the disappearance seemed to be resumed.

The flight of the mariner probe and the destruction of a myth

But “Bula” broke in 1962. On December 14, the NASA's Mariner II probe flew only 35,000 km from Venus, in the first successful interplanetary mission.

As the data sent back by the mariner arrived on Earth, people quickly lost their hopes to find life signs. In February 1963, the New York Times reported the bad news: “The temperature of 300 degrees Fahrenheit on Venus indicates that there is no life there.”

In 1967, the Soviet probe Venera IV became the first mission that entered the atmosphere of Venus and reached its surface: the confirmation of the “hell” on Venus was undeniable. Its surface is hot enough to melt lead, and the atmospheric pressure is 92 times higher than on the ground. Nor is it about gigantic reptiles on the bottom of some tropical oceans.

Since then, the dreamers said goodbye to their favorite destination. The British science-fiction writer, Brian Aldiss, even published in 1968 a collection of stories of the “Fantastic Venus trips”, entitled Farewell Fantastic Venus!

What Venus tells us about the climatic future of the Earth

Paradoxically, instead of a lush place, in which the primordial life abounds as it once did Earth, Venus became a warning for the future of the Earth's climate. The discovery that our neighboring planet is an impossible place to live has shown that planetary stories do not follow the same predetermined patterns.

Moreover, this suggested that the evolution of a planet can be modified, possibly catastrophic, in completely different directions, depending on the actions or accidents that occur today.

The uncontrolled greenhouse effect, a scenario that can be repeated on Earth?

American physicist Andrew P. Ingersoll was the first scientist who, in 1969, formulated a model for what we call today the “uncontrolled greenhouse effect,” a process in which the temperature increase causes water evaporation, which leads to a more capable atmosphere, which is completed with a continuous temperature.

Thus, Venus, who had once been a symbol of the distant past of the Earth, became a warning for our future. The truth that our neighboring planet is a pressurized hell has shown that Earth is a miracle. But for how long?

Carl Sagan, the strongest voice that has launched a warning

Throughout the 1900s, some isolated voices warned that, through CO2 emissions, the human industry could disrupt the Earth's atmosphere. But the conclusion that we have to do something in this regard was not yet a popular one. However, Venus offered a clear example of a possible catastrophe.

Perhaps the most famous voice that emphasized the danger that the land of Earth was that of Carl Sagan, the famous American astrophysicist and great promoter of science. Sagan did not completely abandon the idea that Venus could be a place where life had existed or could have existed.

He was a supporter of the idea that, in his beginning, Venus would have had a more temperate climate, even oceans. In his books and works, such as “Cosmos”, he suggested that Venus would have been a perfect example of how a planet can evolve according to his atmospheric and climatic conditions.

Sagan was among the first to warn about the risks of climate change, and used Venus as an example of how a planet can become inospital because of the uncontrolled greenhouse effect.

“The greenhouse effect on Venus is a perfect example of how an atmosphere can take control over the climate of a planet. If we are not attentive, the Earth could follow the same road. Looking to Venus, we see the image of a fiery world, a will of the danger of uncontrollability of the greenhouse. in 1980.

Today, his warning is all the more alive. The exploration of the planet Venus is not only a scientific approach, but it is a true moral lesson for humanity.