Venus has been explored with space missions since 1962, beginning with the Mariner 2 fly-by. Since then, it has been investigated with numerous missions from orbit, fly-bys, through entry probes descending to the surface and even from balloons. Currently ESA Venus Express mission is returning daily observations useful for understanding the dynamic atmosphere of Venus. Despite these efforts, understanding the atmosphere of Venus and its many intriguing features has been a challenge due to observational problems. In the hostile environment of Venus, it is very difficult to obtain the observations and we consequently need in depth theoretical studies and dedicated modeling efforts to support the space missions. Much can be learned from the studies of the Earth’s atmosphere undertaken during the last decades.