re: #339 LudwigVanQuixote

Head desk. It will be worth looking into how much of this is Astroturf too.

Good, you’re here. I’d been waiting for you so I could post this:

Are Venus’ mystery clouds warning sign for Earth?

Mysterious clouds discovered on Venus are not only helping scientists learn more about Earth’s closest planetary neighbor, they also serve as a cautionary tale for one proposed method of combating climate change on our own planet.

The peculiar sulfur dioxide clouds of Venus have perplexed scientists since they were first discovered in 2008 by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express spacecraft.

Now, computer simulations made by Xi Zhang, a graduate student in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., may explain these high-altitude clouds. [ Photos: Beneath the Clouds of Venus]

The study may also mean that one idea for addressing global warming on Earth — injecting sulfur droplets into Earth’s atmosphere — may not be as effective as previously thought, researchers said.