Imagine an earth shaped not by millions of years of volcanism and rain, but by violent tectonic shifting and caustic acids bleaching the surface of any ability to sustain life. You don’t have to imagine — Venus, our sister planet, is under perpetual assault from acid rain and a greenhouse effect that have raised the average temperature to over 800 degrees Farenheit.
Scientists have long looked to Venus as a grim reminder of what could happen to Earth if carbon dioxide percentages continue to climb. No longer — this variation of Earth is an example of environment gone wrong.