Allows life to thrive?

• What on Earth allows life to thrive (when it first evolved)?

  • Liquid water
  • Atmosphere
  • Solar energy
• Liquid water

  • physiology - solvents, transport, chemical reactions
  • Habitats - absorbs UV, anomalous expansion on freezing

  Waters most dense state is liquids, so when it freezes into ice, the ice floats on the surface, sheltering and insulating the water body and organisms beneath
• Atmosphere

  • Greenhouse gases for temperature
  • Nitrogen for proteins
  • Carbon dioxide for photosynthesis
• Solar energy

  • Required for:
  • Photosynthesis
  • temperature - allows enzyme activity
  • liquid water