Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
The world is an amazing place.
In a universe so unfit for life, The Earth is a haven that allows life to flourish.
But what exactly is it that makes our world so perfect for life, and why is this the case?
Let’s explore.
If you want more What If videos, check out our “Biggest What Ifs” playlist on the
channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: Why Is the Earth So Perfect For Life?
When comparing our planet to others in the solar system and beyond, there are a number
of ways in which the Earth, just like the baby bear’s porridge, is just right.
The Goldilocks analogy is a good one, and one that’s often used to describe Earth’s
ability to sustain life.
Venus is the daddy bear planet, with an atmosphere too heavy and hot to sustain life.
Mars is the mama bear, with an atmosphere that’s too thin and cold.
Thankfully, the Earth is just right in a number of ways.
For one, we have liquid water, something that is vital to life.
Liquid water acts as a sort of lubricant for the molecular processes of life.
As a universal solvent, liquid water plays a unique role in mediating the chemical reactions
involved in life, so we're fortunate to have such plentiful water on the surface of the
Earth.
We also have an energy source, namely, the sun, which happens to be beautifully arranged
for us as well.
We’re the right distance from the sun, as mentioned earlier.
This means that the planet has relatively mild temperatures, that allow for liquid water
on Earth.
Not only are we the right distance from the sun, but the sun itself has been found to
be more stable than many other stars, which helps to avoid surges that could be devastating
to life on Earth.
The composition of the Earth is helpful as well.
The hot core and rocky mantle make Earth much better suited for supporting life than a gas
giant like Jupiter.
There are ample amounts of the building blocks of life, such as Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen,
and Nitrogen, and an atmosphere that can help to block out the sun’s rays.
The molten core of the earth is incredibly important for life, since it's instrumental
in creating a strong magnetic field.
This field protects the Earth from the radiation of the sun, which would otherwise be very
harmful to any life found on the planet.
Our moon also works in our favour, helping to stabilize the Earth’s orbital axis.
This helps the Earth to have a moderate tilt, once again hitting that Goldilocks spot.
Without the moon, some scientists believe that the Earth’s tilt could have a variance
of up to 85 degrees, which would result in huge climate shifts, and thus, mass extinction.
Finally, the solar system itself is arranged in a way that permits the creation of an earth-like
planet.
Jupiter acts as the blocker to Earth’s quarterback, shielding our planet from what would otherwise
be a constant rain of asteroids and comets.
It’s estimated that we would experience roughly 10,000 times more asteroid and comet
strikes if Jupiter wasn’t there blocking for us, so thanks Jupe!
I call Jupitor Jupe.
We’re tight like that.
Some believe that this lucky combination of factors is proof of a creator, since the odds
of all of these things occurring are so slim.
However, there are a few issues with this.
The incredible number of planets in the universe means that there are bound to be some that
happen to check all the right boxes.
We didn’t appear on Earth, and then it happened to be perfect.
We appeared on Earth, BECAUSE it was perfect.
The conditions on Earth where such that early life could begin, and so it did, and eventually,
through evolution by natural selection, we appeared.
So at the end of the day, the Earth is perfect for life, because if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t
be here to notice it.
It doesn’t matter how slim the odds were; the fact that life exists means that the unlikely
DID happen.
When you throw the infinity into the mix, even the most unlikely of events become much
more likely to occur.
And since we’re here, it seems that we got lucky.
Go us.
Of course, I should point out that the Earth actually isn’t PERFECT for life, and certainly
not human life.
It has many of the necessary variables, but there are certain things that would make it
better.
The world is not the perfect masterpiece for humans claimed in certain religious texts,
with disease and parasites causing death by the millions.
However, all in all, we’re certainly better off on our imperfect but life-sustaining world,
than we would have been on Jupiter.
And now we return to our question: Why Is the Earth So Perfect For Life?
Well, technically it isn’t perfect, but it does beat seemingly astronomical odds to
possess a combination of factors that allow life to thrive.
With the right combination of elements, distance from the sun, atmosphere, and liquid water,
the Earth has been the happy home of life for billions of years.
Some claim that these slim odds prove that the Earth was intelligently created, but that
doesn’t take into account the vast number of planets that weren’t so lucky.
At the end of the day, regardless of how everything began, I for one am glad things worked out
the way they did.
Because life is pretty awesome.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know one thing you would change about the world if
you could.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.