A. A. Zotin, I. Lamprecht, A. I. Zotin
Bioenergetic Progress and Heat Barriers
Progressing biological evolution is discussed in the framework of nonequilibrium
thermodynamics. It is connected with an increase of the mass specific standard
metabolism given by coefficient a in the allometric relation (1) between oxygen
consumption rate and body mass of an animal. Three “heat barriers” are found in the
course of such a bioenergetic evolution. The first heat barrier concerns an animal's
overheating during active movement and is overcome by the development of
thermoregulation and the appearance of homeothermic animals. A second barrier
arises when the coefficient a reaches values connected with lethal body temperatures.
The transition across this second heat barrier occurs as result of reasonable activities
and the appearance of civilization. The third heat barrier will arise during the further
development of human civilization, connected with a highly increased energy
production and a fatal warming of the Earth atmosphere. The manner to overcome this
barrier will probably depend on the assimilation of space and the establishment of
energy consuming industries outside the Earth.
The bioenergetic evolution discussed in this paper does not exclude other trends of
evolution, e.g. increase of size, and does not mean to be the only aspect of biological
evolution.
Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 0340-0204
Volume: 26, 07/2001
Pages: 191 - 202
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