The Effects of Environmental Conditions on Biological Systems. I. General Patterns of Meteosensitivity

In order to explain mechanisms of the influence of various environmental parameters on living organisms, we attempted to summarize the results of experimental work concerned with the study of physical and chemical processes at the molecular and cellular levels. This article is the first part of the review contains works devoted to the study of proteins at the molecular level. This review also includes works, which study the properties of water under the influence of various physical and chemical conditions. As it is known, the environmental temperature determines the types of organisms that can live in rivers and lakes. Fish, insects, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and other aquatic species have a preferred temperature range. When the temperature becomes too high or too low compared to this range, the number of individuals that can survive decreases until it eventually disappears completely. Temperature has also a serious impact on the chemical composition of water. The rate of chemical reactions generally increases at higher temperatures. In particular, water, especially the groundwater, can dissolve more minerals at a higher temperature, and therefore will have a higher electrical conductivity. When considering a gas, for example oxygen dissolved in water, the opposite effect is observed.