Earth System Dynamics Thermodynamic dissipation theory for the origin of life

Abstract. Understanding the thermodynamic function of life may shed light on its origin. Life, as are all irreversible pro-cesses, is contingent on entropy production. Entropy pro-duction is a measure of the rate of the tendency of Nature to explore available microstates. The most important irre-versible process generating entropy in the biosphere and, thus, facilitating this exploration, is the absorption and trans-formation of sunlight into heat. Here we hypothesize that life began, and persists today, as a catalyst for the absorp-tion and dissipation of sunlight on the surface of Archean seas. The resulting heat could then be efficiently harvested by other irreversible processes such as the water cycle, hur-ricanes, and ocean and wind currents. RNA and DNA are the most efficient of all known molecules for absorbing the intense ultraviolet light that penetrated the dense early atmo-sphere and are remarkably rapid in transforming this light into heat in the presence of liquid water. From this perspec-tive, the origin and evolution of life, inseparable from water and the water cycle, can be understood as resulting from the natural thermodynamic imperative of increasing the entropy production of the Earth in its interaction with its solar envi-ronment. A mechanism is proposed for the reproduction of RNA and DNA without the need for enzymes, promoted in-stead through UV light dissipation and diurnal temperature cycling of the Archean sea-surface