06/02/2015
By: J Grajeda
1. Selected Cold
as one of the following environmental stresses:
Humans adapt to different types of climate environments, on
colder climates the danger is always present hypothermia can kick in if the
core body temperature drops to 94 degrees F. or below.
2. Short term,
humans adapt very quickly to
Human body reacts to extreme cold by initiating shivers;
this causes certain muscles to function at higher rate and increases body heat
to reduce combat cold.
Facultative
“Narrowing
of blood vessels to reduce blood flow to the skin. It is an involuntary
response to cold and reduces heat loss at the skin’s surface” I also think that
this could lead to other serious health problems, if body fails to counter balance
this adaptation.
Developmental
For instance, in the sub-artic region the Inuit people
consume large amounts of foods that are high on fats, most coming from fish,
“this increases the basal metabolic rate, which increases the production of
body heat”
When compared to the Aborigines from Australia, they respond
physiologically very different way, “ thick fat insulation develops around the
vital organs of the chest and abdomen” Heat loss is reduced and core
temperature remains at normal levels.
Cultural
Humans living in cold climates learn to adjust their life
style as require, they wear clothes, furs that are more resistant to cold.
Adjust their diets to better suit their needs, including alcohol and other hot
beverages.
3.
There are multiple benefits of studying human variation; it
gives us a better understanding and can provide a more in depth knowledge of
the human race, as a whole and not necessarily by nationalities. Also, studying
climate variation will enable humans to better plan and prepare in cold
environments.
4. The word “race” has different meaning to many people, but
in this situation we can apply it to any human living in this cold regions,
adapting to an array environmental changes.
Yes, cold stress can result in hypothermia, but why is a drop in body temperature dangerous? What happens to the body when temps drop below the optimum level? Expand.
ReplyDeleteMissing images of your first three adaptations?
Good description of shivering and the constriction of blood vessels (called "vasoconstriction"). I agree, both shivering and vasoconstriction are not practices that can continue indefinitely. There will be a point when shivering doesn't provide sufficient benefit for the energy you lose and vasoconstriction can result in frostbite. Eventually, the body switches to alternativing vasoconstriction/vasodilation, with the body opening vessels up occasionally to allow tissues to receive nutrients to stave off frostbite, but of course you lose heat from that. This is only a temporary measure as well. By that time, you need to escape the cold stress.
Good discussion on the developmental trait. This is related to Bergmann's and Allen's rules. You might want to review that from the online information.
You were good on your cultural until you mentioned "alcohol". Alcohol is NOT an adaptive response to the cold. That's an old wives' tale that can kill you. It actually drops your body temperature a bit, which gives the allusion of warmth. In reality, the drop in temperature endangers your body further and by impairing your judgement, you are making it less likely that you will be successful in removing yourself from the source of the cold stress.
Good discussion on the benefits of the adaptive approach.
All you are doing in the last section is layering on the concept of race on top of the environmental approach. You aren't actually using race to better understand variation. Is race useful at all for this? Using the environment to understand human variation is productive because there is a causal relationship between the environment and variation. Is there a causal relationship between race and variation? Or is race just a sociocultural construct that categorizes humans based upon superficial traits, rather than explaining why those traits vary?
Hi Javier! I also chose cold for my environmental stressor. Hypothermia is very dangerous to humans health! Great job on explaining the responses to the cold and how people adapt in different ways. I also like how you used the example of the Aborigines in Australia. I also think that studying the variation will help us as humans to adapt to different environments and prepare ourselves by learning from others if we have to venture into those environments.
ReplyDeleteIf I had stumbled onto your blog and read the post, I would have a lot of questions. Your answers brush the surface of each adaptation, but don't give an explanation as to what happens at the physiological level. Also, your last section didn't offer any additional insight or even your opinion on whether race can be used objectively to better understand variation.
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