In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists at Trinity College Dublin have identified a “universal thermal performance curve” that governs how all living organisms respond to temperature. This finding reveals that evolution has been unable to escape a single, unifying rule linking performance and heat across every branch of life—from bacteria and plants to reptiles and fish. The curve shows that while organisms perform better as temperatures rise, performance rapidly collapses beyond an optimal point, posing grave risks in a warming world.
