NASA reveals how volcanic activity may have ruined our chances of living on Venus

A NASA report proposes that Venus's transformation from a temperate and moist planet into the acidic hothouse it is today may have been aided by volcanic activity spanning hundreds to thousands of years and releasing vast quantities of debris. These "large igneous provinces" are discussed in the report as well, since they are responsible for many major extinctions on Earth millions of years ago.

Massive igneous provinces developed over tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years of long-term volcanic activity. These activities may dump more than 100,000 cubic miles of volcanic rock. This quantity of molten rock might be enough to bury the whole state of Texas a 1km deep.

The average surface temperature of Venus now is 462 C, and its atmosphere has a pressure 90 times that of the surface of Earth. The research suggests that these circumstances on Venus were likely begun by large volcanic outpourings in the planet's distant past. In instance, a runaway greenhouse effect may have triggered the planet's shift from a rainy and temperate climate to a hot and dry one if several such eruptions occurred within a short period of geologic time (within a million years).

A researcher claims that 80% of Venus is composed of massive volcanic rock fields. Since multicellular life's beginning about 540 million years ago, Earth has been through at least five major mass extinction events, each of which wiped out more than half of all animal life. 

Large igneous provinces are responsible for, or at least contributed to, the bulk of these extinction events, as shown in this and previous research. Although similar climatic changes occurred on Venus, Way and other scientists have yet to establish why they were insufficient to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect on Earth.

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To better comprehend Venus' volcanic and volatile past and, by extension, Venus' journey to its present condition, the DAVINCI mission will precede the VERITAS orbiter, which is meant to examine the surface and interior of Venus from far above. The information gathered from both missions might help researchers determine with more precision how Venus went from being a moist and cool place to a dry and hot one.

Volcanic activity on Earth has had and likely will have future ramifications for all forms of life, and this discovery might provide light on those repercussions.