Maintaining our body temperature is
an extremely important part of our survival. Humans are not equipped to handle
extreme cold temperatures. When we are put in a situation that involves the
cold, we most likely won’t survive. When
we are exposed to cold temperatures, we run the risk of developing hypothermia,
which is when our body temperature drops below 94 degrees Fahrenheit. The hypothalamus begins to fail and the core
body temperature will start to drop rapidly. This makes it difficult for humans
to survive in the most northern and southern hemispheres.
Even though
it is difficult for humans to live in these climates, we have adapted in order
to be able to survive. One short-term solution to fighting the cold is drinking
alcohol. This increases the blood flow throughout the body giving the person a
feeling of warmth. However, this doesn’t last very long.
A facultative response would be the narrowing of the blood
vessels, which reduces blood flow, called vasoconstriction. This prevents heat
loss from the skin. However, this can cause frostbite, so the body also knows
when to switch to dilating the blood vessels. This is called vasodilation.
A developmental response would be the genetic passing of short
stocky bodies. The short bodies would have less surface area to heat, so it would
be able to stay warmer. This is shown in Allen’s rule.
The benefit
of studying human variation across different environments gives us insight on
how well humans can adapt to the harsh environmental factors of Earth. This
information is helpful because it allows us to be able to take information and
spread it so others can use the practices to adapt as well. An example would be
studying how the Eskimos survive in the cold weather and using that information
to allow others who wish to live in those types of areas for reasons such as
fishing in Alaska.
Instead of
using race to understand the variation of adaptations, we should be looking at
the culture of the people in each condition listed. Race really has nothing to
do with the way humans adapt to their environment.
Good description of cold stress.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your short term adaptation: Alcohol is not an adaptive response to cold. It actually acts to reduce your body temperature a bit, which gives the illusion of warmth, but it is actually dangerous. Not only does it reduce your temperature minutely (and provides no actual heat whatsoever), it reduces your ability to think clearly, making it harder to solve the problem of cold stress and escaping what is possibly a life threatening situation.
Additionally, remember that short term, facultative and developmental adaptations are physiological. They are traits that the body does automatically, without your input. Drinking fluids (alcohol or otherwise) would not qualify as physiological. More likely cultural.
Good discussion of cultural, developmental and facultative adaptations, so only the short term caused you problems. An example of short term adaptations to cold would be shivering.
Good discussion on the usefulness of the adaptive approach. Could that information also be useful for producing good cold weather clothing and even for medical purposes?
Why culture? Most of these adaptations are biological/physiological, which has nothing to do with culture. I agree that race has nothing to do with how humans adapt to their environment, I don't agree that culture is much more productive in terms of its usefulness in understanding biological variation.
I thought your Allen's Rule example was excellent. I would never have made the connection between being shorter and keeping your body temperature up as a result. I will have to let my wife know-maybe that explains why she is always hot when the rest of us aren't! In all seriousness, it is also interesting to note things factors like height as it relates to humans evolving in the cold. Not an obvious adaptation, but nevertheless it makes sense and once again I learned something!
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