Challenges

To terraform Venus, we'll have to overcome some obstacles before we can step foot onto the Venusian soil.

The Extreme Heat and Pressure

The surface temperature of Venus is around 464°C, and it has an atmospheric pressure of 95 bars (1 bar being the atmospheric pressure on Earth) (Britannica, n.d.). If you were to try and take a stroll on Venus in its current state, you'd get burnt to a crisp and crushed into the floor. The surface of the planet is littered with active volcanoes and the thick atmosphere causes a runaway greenhouse effect by trapping the sun's heat (NASA, 2025).

The Toxic Atmosphere

Venus' atmosphere is 96% CO₂ and 3.5% nitrogen (Britannica, n.d.). This makes the atmosphere dense and toxic for humans, as we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. This also means that any heat that enters the atmosphere gets trapped, which ties in with its extreme heat, as the heat cannot escape with the atmosphere in the way.

The Lack of Water

There is no liquid water on Venus, as the planet is too hot for water to exist in its liquid form. The water that was once on Venus has evaporated into the atmosphere and has been broken down into hydrogen and oxygen by the sun's ultraviolet radiation. The hydrogen escapes into space, while the oxygen reacts with the surface rocks, creating the sulfuric acid clouds that we see today (Garner, 2016).