What's the Weather on Mars and How It Compares to Earth

Key Takeaways

• Mars' weather is similar to Earth's, but much colder due to distance from the sun and thin atmosphere.

• Mars has wildly varying temperatures due to low atmospheric pressure and lack of greenhouse gases.

• Dust storms are a major feature on Mars, growing much larger than on Earth.

• Mars has polar ice caps made of water vapor and carbon dioxide ice.

Mars' weather is similar to Earth's in many ways. Yet, the climate stays very cold since the planet is about 1.5 times further from the sun than Earth.

NASA has at least three units on Mars that regularly record the planet's weather, so scientists know a lot about it.

So, what's the weather on Mars and how does it compare to our world?