Life on Earth depends on liquid water and the temperature at which it freezes or boils. How much would the values of 0°C and 100°C need to change to make life here unsustainable, or hugely different?
• Due to its strong hydrogen bonding, water has a high freezing and boiling point for its molecular weight of 18. In comparison, ethane, with a molecular weight of 30, freezes at -182.8°C and boils at -88.5°C. If water had the same level of hydrogen bonding as ethane, it would freeze and boil at much lower temperatures, and Earth as we know…
