Types Of Life On Earth - 1164 Words

Our solar system consists of 8 planets and three dwarf planets. Of those planets, only Earth has shown signs of life. Although Venus has the same mass, density, and size as Earth, it does not show those same signs of life. Instead, Venus’s drastically different atmosphere makes it unable to sustain life in the same manner as Earth. By delving into these differences, one can come to understanding of what makes life impossible, and how life would have to evolve in order to be able to sustain itself on the planet, Venus. To comprehend Venus’s capability to hold life, we must understand what life needs on Earth to sustain itself. On Earth, all life go through functions to convert certain reagents into energy. There are two types of life on†¦show more content†¦If a cell lives in an extreme temperature which it usually does not reside in, it will be unable to function; thus, it will die. If a cell comes into contact with a harmful element or compound that it cannot withstand, such as an obligate anaerobic organism coming into contact with oxygen, it will cease to function; thus, die. Earth has bodies of water and ozone, as well as a fast rotational period. These stop the surface of the planet from overheating, allowing cells to be able to live in normal temperatures. The cells have also created mechanisms that are able to combat the harmful compounds within the atmosphere, or have relocated themselves to below the water to avoid these compounds. Venus’s atmosphere is 90 times more dense, consisting of 96.5% CO2, 3% Nitrogen, and .5% of other elements. This means the oxygen concentration is very low. In order for aerobic life to be supported, there must be a sufficient amount of oxygen contained within the atmosphere so that cellular respiration can be undergone. Comparing Earth’s oxygen concentration to Venus’s concentration, Earth has around 42 times more oxygen in its atmosphere than Venus. This makes aerobic life on Venus implausible. However, what about anaerobic life. Fermentation does not use oxygen; thus, this is a viable option within this atmosphere. The only problem is that, as a byproduct, fermentation produces CH3COCOO− which breaks down into CO2. This would add more Co2 into