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Gas Exchange And Its Effects On The Human Body Essay

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Introduction

All living organisms need energy, which is formed in respiration, in order to accommodate survival and reproduction. Gas exchange is a physical process wherein oxygen and carbon dioxide (the two main respiratory gases of aerobic respiration) move in opposite directions across an organism 's respiratory membranes, between the air or water of the external environment and the body fluids of the internal environment. Oxygen is needed by cells to extract energy from organic molecules, such as sugars, fatty acids, and amino acids. Carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration and is harmful if not removed from the body by gas exchange, therefore, it must be disposed. The gas exchange membranes must have large surface areas, must be thin, must be moist, must have mechanisms for maintaining steep concentration gradients across themselves and must be permeable to gases to allow a smooth and efficient gas exchange.

Although insects, mammals and fish are of different species, all of them require oxygen in their daily lives for their survival and all of them execute the process of gas exchange. Of course, all three perform gas exchange differently as they all have to adapt to their habitat for an efficient and maximised gas exchange. This report will focus on the different adaptations for efficient gas exchange on the species of insects, aquatic insects, mammals, aquatic mammals and fish.

Insects - Locust

Insects are invertebrates, and instead of having a back bone

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