Unsurprisingly for me, it’s been found in a study that 20°C is the ideal temperature for all life on this planet. I set my thermostat inside my home to 20°C! That’s actually is a bit too cold for me because inside the home you are inactive which chills down the body but outside the home being active, 20°C is around the ideal for me or a bit higher.
The Independent newspaper reports on a review of studies which concluded that all species on the planet seem to thrive at an optimal 20°C. Animals living on the land may struggle to adapt to climate change and higher temperatures.
My mind in fact immediately turned to a recent article I wrote about the mountain goat, the Ibex, in Italy which has become nocturnal primarily in order to avoid high daytime temperatures due to climate change (see link below). If that behavioural occurs in many other species we could see many more becoming nocturnal.
The temperature appears to be pivotal for biodiversity. The lead author wrote in their report said: “We find evidence that temperatures above 20°C become increasingly suboptimal for all domains of life including animals, plants and prokaryotes.”
It appears to come down to the efficiency of the chemical processes inside the cells of animals. The temperature of 20°C is optimal for those chemical processes.
For higher temperatures, there may be a reduction in tolerance to low oxygen levels in aquatic wildlife.
Some animals may struggle to adapt to higher temperatures in a warming world.
Land-based animals may be able to move to cooler climates but sometimes it isn’t possible due to modified landscapes because of human activities such as farming, human settlements and other human infrastructures.
The study also found that fossil records indicated that when temperatures were consistently and for a long period of time over 20°C it can lead to extinctions of species.
Biodiversity can be reduced when ambient temperatures are above 20°C which clearly puts added pressure on humans to tackle global warming.
It’s believed that global warming may lead to a simplification of ecosystems with fewer lifeforms i.e. less biodiversity existing in many places.
And there will be increased competition for resources among species surviving as a result of a reduction in habitats.
It is said that humans work less efficiently when temperatures are warmer than 20°C because releasing heat requires energy. In higher temperatures that is wasted energy.
The review of other studies concluded that the temperature ranges of animals, microbes and plants living in air and water overlap at 20°C and it is suggested that this is not a coincidence.
Biological processes increase as temperature increases but then reached a maximum at which there is a rapid decline in the biological processes because it’s too hot.
Regarding marine wildlife, a New Zealand research team found that marine species did not peak in numbers at the equator where the temperature is warmest as had been commonly assumed. The numbers dipped and there were peaks in the subtropics.
They plotted the number of species against the average annual temperature and found that there was a decline in numbers above 20°C. They also suggest that this is not a coincidence.
The most stable temperature for the biological processes of microbes and multicellular organisms has been found to be 20°C according to research in Tasmania.
Various crucial measures decrease when temperatures are warmer than around 20°C such as the reduced tolerance of low oxygen by marine and freshwater species, a reduction in genetic biodiversity and the richness in species of plankton, benthic invertebrates, fossil molluscs and pelagic fishes.
There is an increased richness in species at 20°C. Most species live at 20°C. All of this points to an increased urgency to tackle climate change.
RELATED: Ibex of the Italian Alps have become nocturnal in response to global warming
