Life does best in warm and wet
Photo by emblatame
Why is it so much easier for life to flourish in warm, wet climates?
Remember that living creatures are water, for the most part. Living things rely on water to maintain various bodily chemicals and minerals needed for vital processes such as breathing, moving, and digesting. It’s easiest for life to flourish and diversify where it has to make the least effort to survive. Because we on Earth have evolved to need water for our life processes, a wet climate is an easier place to survive than a dry one.
And as for warmth – most life forms on Earth today can function within only a narrow range of temperatures, from about 65 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit – or about 18 to 37 degrees Celsius. The molecules of earthly life – including vital proteins – are very sensitive to temperature. At just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, many molecules start to break apart – which will cause life as we know it to stop.
Extreme cold is even tougher for life than extreme heat. A cold climate requires that an animal do a lot of work to maintain a body temperature substantially above its surroundings. And not only does life prefer warmth and moisture – but it also prefers not to work!
Our thanks to:
Dr. Eric Pianka
Department of Zoology
University of Texas
Austin, TX
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