Cold weather is an environmental stress that negatively impacts the survival of humans by causing loss of movement, loss of breathing, and death. The cold weather also makes us more prone to catch illnesses and germs, which could also lead to death. "Frostbite" can occur in extreme cold and cause the loss of limbs and body parts. This can also lead to death, or cause one to become immobile which would prevent them from gathering food and resources, which also could result in death.
2. Identify 4 ways in which humans have adapted to this stress, choosing one specific adaptation from each of the different types of adaptations listed above (short term, facultative, developmental and cultural). Include images of the adaptations. (5 pts each/ 20 pts total)
Some cultural adaptations humans have developed are clothes, fire, houses
/smiling-snowball-man-5c32957fc9e77c000189380d.jpg)
Humans adapted to the cold by creating a way of insulating their body heat and adding extra layers of warmth and protection from the cold by creating clothes. This allowed humans to be able to travel outdoors in cold weather, and hunt for food while staying safe from frostbite. As you can see in this picture, humans are able to easily be outside in even snow and still have a smile on their face because they are able to keep warm. Without extra layers of warmth, it would be very difficult to survive. Now, clothes outside are the social norm among humans.
Another adaptation to the cold is creation of controlled fires. Humans developed a method of creating fire that didn't spread, and would help them stay warm and be close to it. This adaptation also helped with being able to cook food to stay alive in freezing temperatures, and combat frostbite.
Creating a place to stay inside when weather got too cold was also a much needed adaptation so that humans had a place to shelter and not be surrounded by snow or rain and get even more cold. Houses were built to help insulate heat and keep out the rain, snow, and cold. Putting controlled fires into these houses and creating "fireplaces" were also made to make the house warmer and so that humans could sleep in a safe place that was warm.
A developmental adaptation to the cold was the development of body hair. This added an extra layer of warmth and protection to the cold, and was placed in places where the skin was more sensitive (facial,armpit,pubic). There is a small layer of hair all over the body as well to help combat the cold.
A facultative adaptation would be the development of body fat to help combat the cold and retain more body heat in extreme cold. Humans are able to change their body to adapt to the cold climate and survive more succesfully without freezing. If they were thin, they would not survive the cold as well as someone who had more body fat.
A short term adaptation would be when humans get "goosebumps" on their body when they are cold. This is when the hair stands when cold, and it creates a fluffy layer of warmth. This goes away when it's warm. This short term adaptation helps to keep warm in cold environments.
3. What are the benefits of studying human variation from this perspective across environmental clines? Can information from explorations like this be useful to help us in any way? Offer one example of how this information can be used in a productive way. (5 pts)
The benefits of these studies help show us why humans can be so different in appearance from one another, and find the cause of these variations and differences in a scientific way. When we look at how these differences help groups of humans in different environments in different ways, we can see why these adaptations happened and how they were caused. This information helps us see why people have different skin colors from different areas by seeing how these skin colors and differences in melanin once helped their ancestors survive in their unique environments and climates. Or perhaps why some people have more body hair than others, perhaps their ancestors were from a colder climate and they developed more body hair to stay warm. Or perhaps one's ancestors needed extra protection from UV rays so they developed more melanin.
4. How would you use race to understand the variation of the adaptations you listed in #2? Explain why the study of environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand human variation than by the use of race. (10 pts)
The study of environmental influences is better than the use of race to understand our different variations because it helps to show that it's our environment that causes these variations and that's it. A population of humans of humans who may have more body fat and are shorter than others probably adapted to a cold environment, not because of anything with their race. I feel that this helps show people why we are different, and that if your own ancestors lived in a different climate and had different adaptations than they did, you could look a lot different than you do now. It's all about environment and studying this way helps show is the causes for these changes.
I agree with you in number 4. In this day in age, race is very controversial. Racial slurs are used like its a common phrase. To understand that environmental changes are causes for human variation, not race. I really like your examples for each type of adaptation. They were clear and easily understandable. In addition, the visuals were very humorous and intriguing. Great job on that part. I also chose the cold climate as my environmental stress, so it was easy for me to understand what you were saying. I learned some new things like how humans developed fat to stay warm.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!
In general, good explanation in your opening section, but can we get a little deeper into the actual biology here? What happens to the body when the core body temperature drops below the optimum temperature of 98.6 degrees? Why can't it function well below this temperature? What happens to our internal organs and our circulatory system below this temperature?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start with the short term adaptation.
Short term: Goosebumps *used* to be an adaptation but not anymore in humans. Goosebumps form when the tiny muscle attached to the base of the hair follicle contracts, causing the hair to stand upright. Now if the organism has a full coat of hair, this causes and air pocket of warm air to form between the skin and the hair to act as insulation. But without that heavy coat of fur, we gain no benefit. We are left with only the bumps. What about shivering? Isn't that a valid example of a short term adaptation?
Facultative: Okay, but this takes time. It won't help you if you are caught in the cold. A quicker response is vasodilation. Can you explain how that works?
Developmental: But we all have body hair in those locations, correct? Some more than others, I agree. Is there a pattern there? If so, that needed to be part of the discussion here. A better example is a short, squat body shape that helps retain body heat, as per Bergmann & Allen's rules. I would go check the resources in the assignment module for background on this.
Okay on cultural, though the guidelines only asked for one example. I would have preferred you spend more time explaining the other adaptations rather than offering multiple examples of cultural.
I agree that knowledge is always useful, but can you identify a way this knowledge can be useful in a concrete way? Can knowledge on adaptations to cold climates have medical implications? Help us develop clothing that retains heat more efficiently? Can we develop new means of home/building construction that might help increase heat retention? How can we actually use this information in an applied fashion?
"The study of environmental influences is better than the use of race to understand our different variations because it helps to show that it's our environment that causes these variations and that's it."
I agree, but this doesn't explain why race doesn't work. It just explains why the adaptive approach is better. *Can* you use race at all to understand human variation? Understand that it is perfectly acceptable to answer this question with a "no".
To answer this question, you first need to explore what race actually is. Race is not based in biology but is a social construct, based in beliefs and preconceptions, and used only to categorize humans into groups based upon external physical features, much like organizing a box of crayons by color. Race does not *cause* adaptations like environmental stress do, and without that causal relationship, you can't use race to explain adaptations. Race has no explanatory value over human variation.
I thought that one great reason to study what cold does was to possibly find more efficient ways to hold in the heat. That could be in what they are eating. I thought a good experiment would be to choose certain groups and have them all eat different proteins, fats and veggies and see if any of them made a difference. I enjoyed your pictures as well it helped point out what you were going for.
ReplyDelete