Colleen Corrigan, Junior – Special to Headlight
The sun is the finest, most beautiful, and most beneficial star that we know of. The sun is an asset to human nature. Without the sun, human life as it is would no longer rest within the realm of our existence. Although it is almost 93 million miles from the earth. The sun drives every aspect of life.
The sun produces our oxygen to grow food and stirs our tides and weather. As someone who is heading towards the healthcare industry, the sun is a vital resource for keeping yourself healthy and happy. Like apples, a little sunlight per day will keep the doctors away.
Exposure to and absorption of sunlight promote stronger bones due to Vitamin D and resistance to illness because of the sun’s ability to regulate the immune system and kill bacteria that cause illness. You also might not correlate sleeping with the sun, but the sun is a major factor in your circadian rhythm. The sun promotes movement, and the more movement the body makes, the more sleep the body will need.
You feel calmer and overall happier because of the sun, due to the production of Vitamin D the sun triggers. The sun can boost mood and energy. Think about what it’s like to not see the sun for a few days; and then when clouds finally disappear and you catch a glimpse of the sun, there’s an amazing rush of heat and warmth, and even better than that, the happiness that comes along with it. It’s extraordinary.
The sun not only affects us as people but also heats up our beloved and amazing oceans, changes our tides, and grows green life to give us food and oxygen. The earth rotates around the sun. As the earth rotates, the sun and moon conduct different gravitational pulls which affect the angles of tidal bulges. The change in tidal bulge angles directly affects our oceans. Sunlight also provides the energy plants need to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen. Without the sun, photosynthesis could not occur. Imagine a world with no green life. No vegetation and no oxygen.
One major drawback is that the sun causes skin issues, such as cancer, but the positive effects of the sun outweigh the bad. There are also many safety measures that can prevent severe skin damage like sunscreen protectors.
The sun is one of the most important things that keeps us moving every day. Unlike many other aspects of our life, the sun is free and beneficial, and thank goodness for that. Next time you take a step outside, please look around at all the sun’s gifts to earth and be grateful.