Air in the life of plants and animals
Air plays a huge role in plant life. The fundamental components necessary for the growth and life of plants are oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor and soil air. Oxygen is necessary for respiration, and carbon dioxide is necessary for carbon nutrition.
Oxygen is vital for all living things. Plants cannot germinate without oxygenation. The roots, leaves, and stems of plants need this element.
Carbon dioxide enters the plant by entering through its stomata into the leaf environment, entering the cells. The higher the concentration of carbon dioxide, the better plant life becomes.
Air contributes to the implementation of microbiological processes occurring in the soil. Thanks to these processes, elements necessary for the nutrition, growth and life of plants are formed in the soil - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and others.
Air also plays a special role in the formation of mechanical tissues in land plants. It serves as their environment, protecting them from exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Air movement is important for favorable plant growth. Horizontal air movement dries out plants. And the vertical promotes the spread of fingers, seeds, and also regulates the thermal regime in different areas.
Animals, like plants, need air. Age, gender, size and physical activity are directly related to the amount of air consumed.
The animal body is very sensitive to lack of oxygen. Due to the reduced oxygen concentration in animals, the proteins, fats and carbohydrates they consume cease to oxidize. This leads to the accumulation of harmful toxic substances in the body.
Oxygen is necessary to saturate the blood and tissues of a living creature. Therefore, when there is a lack of this element in animals, breathing quickens, blood flow accelerates, oxidative processes in the body decrease, and the animal becomes restless. Prolonged lack of oxygen saturation causes: muscle fatigue, lack of pain factor, decreased body temperature and death.
Air in human life
Air is a vital factor for humans. It is carried by the blood throughout the body, saturating every organ and every cell of the body.
It is in the air that heat exchange between the human body and the environment occurs. The essence of this exchange is the convection transfer of heat and evaporation of moisture from the human lungs.
Air also performs a protective function for the body: it dilutes chemical pollutants to a safe concentration. This helps reduce the risk of poisoning the body with chemicals.
With the help of breathing, a person saturates the body with energy. Atmospheric air consists of many elements, but its composition can change. The reason for this is human production and technogenic activity.
During exhalation, a person returns a quarter less of the inhaled oxygen and a hundred times more carbon dioxide. A person needs to inhale 13-14 m3 of air daily. The oxygen content in the body of a healthy person remains virtually unchanged. But if this element is missing, then malfunctions occur in the body, the pulse quickens.
Carbon dioxide is also important for the body, but in certain quantities. Increased gas concentrations cause headaches or tinnitus.
Oxygen helps rid the human body of carbon dioxide, which contains accumulated poisons and toxins. If a person rarely goes out into fresh air, breathes shallowly, or the air contains a low concentration of oxygen, the human body suffers poisoning, leading to various diseases.
