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lower density of ice than of water is essential for much of the life on earth--if water were most dense at the freezing point, then in winter the cooling at the surface would lead to convective mixing. Once 0 °C is reached, the water body would freeze from the bottom up, and all life in it would be killed. Furthermore, given that water is a good thermal insulator (due to its heat capacity), some frozen lakes might not completely thaw in summer. As it is, the inversion of the density curve

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