Would it be possible to construct an atmosphere condusive to human life on Venus (or some other planet)? Basically create a biosphere. Vanus is rich in CO2, right? So if we shipped in a bunch of plants to use the CO2 and generate O2, then that would shift the balance of O2. Then we could ship a bunch of animals there... I know it would be incredibly more complex and difficult than this simplistic view, but is it theoretically possible to germinate a planet and "create" a balance for life in such a way?
it sounds plausible to me, i don't know the specifics of it all, but Michael Chriton (sp...:bugeye: ) wrote a book about this idea, only it was based on Mars, Total Recall. It was also a movie, but i didn't see it, anyway, the book is definetly good, and worth the read.
Plants need more than just CO<sub>2</sub> to survive. They need the proper amounts of minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, etc., inorganic phosphates, water, nitrogen, oxygen and some sulphur. I don't know off-hand what the surface of Venus is like, in terms of elemental content, but I doubt it is conducive to plant life. Not to mention the initial temperature, which would denature almost any protein required for life.
Yes, that is true. But do they convert carbon dioxide into oxygen in all cases? Most of the bacteria in these conditions are lithotrophs, not photoautotrophs.