1

Is Earth the perfect place for life ? If it isn't then how could conditions be better here ? For example, the size of the Planet, our atmosphere, distanace from our Sun etc.

Peter U
  • 1,619
  • 13
  • 19
  • 1
    I wonder if it is possible to answer this from a thermodynamics/dynamic systems standpoint? There needs to be "enough happening" in some kind of entropic sense for a great deal of complexity to evolve out of some kind of self-organising perturbations, but not so much random disruption (heat, radiation) to destroy it before it becomes interesting. An answer would reflect some kind of balance between amount of energy flow, the ambient temperature and maybe some subtler parameters. – Steve Linton May 20 '18 at 17:07

1 Answers1

3

It is a very good place for Earth Life, but that is because we have evolved and adapted to this planet. For example, we like to have an atmospheric pressure of about 1000 mBar, and a partial O2 pressure of about 200 mBar, which is exactly what the atmosphere provides.

Earth would be a very bad place for a species to which oxygen was toxic. A species that hadn't evolved here would probably find conditions challenging in one way or another.

James K
  • 120,702
  • 5
  • 298
  • 423
  • Probably as good an answer as is possible. – StephenG - Help Ukraine May 20 '18 at 15:55
  • Since we evolved to this Planet, does that mean that we could never find another Planet that we could live on similar to Earth ? Also could anything have been different here to have made life better for us. For example, most of the water on this Planet contains salt, which is toxic for us . – Peter U May 20 '18 at 16:23
  • @PeterU Too much salt is toxic, but we actually need some sodium (and other electrolytes) to survive (google "hyponatremia"). We can live in a range of environments (just like we do right here on Earth), so there is a chance at least one other planet will have at least one place where humans can survive. Portions of Earth are hostile to human life (polar regions, deserts, etc), so to answer your other question: yes, life on Earth could be better. Smaller axial tilt and more land/less water might be a good start. –  May 20 '18 at 19:19
  • @barrycarter Yes, I was thinking the same thing as well, that we could use some more land on Earth – Peter U May 20 '18 at 19:45