Josh Roper
1. The cold can affect human survival in many ways. It can
cause specific health conditions that can cause death such as hypothermia. It
can also cause indirect deaths such as house fires, accidents and injuries from
falling.
2. An example of short-term adaptation for cold weather is
the body producing goosebumps and the hairs on your body rising up. This helps
your body insulate heat in response to the cold weather.
An example of a facultative trait would be the Eskimos
having epicanthic folds on their eyes from snow storms and the glare the ice
produces from the sun.
An example of developmental adaptations for cold weather
would be people having a round and short body in order to retain as much heat
as possible in cold weather specifically the Eskimos.
A cultural adaptation to cold weather is building a fire and
gathering around it in order to stay warm in cold weather.
3. Some benefits that come from studying human variation
through the perspective of environmental clines is that it allows us to learn
from others on their actions rather than specifically their physical traits or
what is presumed about them. Another benefit is that we can use these
adaptations become more diverse as people. For example, if someone who lives in
California were to learn and observe people from the artic, the California people
could use there some of these tools and most likely survive in both hot and
cold weather.
4. Eskimos are mainly known for surviving in the worse cold
conditions. When we refer to them, we know they are born with the genetic
traits that allow them to survive in the cold. Race can explain possible genetic
adaptive traits but it does not cultural adaptations or short term traits. Environmental
influences are better for understanding human variation because it does not
base observations solely on physical traits but also on other factors.
Yes, cold stress can result in hypothermia but that on its own doesn't explain why cold stress is dangerous. What happens to the body when the body temperature drops below the optimum? Why can't it function correctly? With regard to house fires and accidents, keep in mind that the question was from a metabolic, physiological perspective, so we are looking for direct repercussions on the body's metabolism, not secondary, indirect impacts.
ReplyDeleteGoose bumps are an interesting point. They are actually left over from the days when humans, like most other mammals, had a heavy coat of fur covering their bodies. As you describe, this functions to raise the hair follicles and trap air warmed by the body under the fur to insulate the body. Unfortunately, this doesn't help us anymore since we have lost too much body hair. The function is gone but the goose bumps remain as evidence of our much hairier ancestors. A short term trait that still provides us with a benefit is shivering.
Epicanthic folds are actually developmental (genetic) traits, not facultative. Remember that facultative traits can be turned on and off as needed, and that certainly doesn't describe this eye structure. I'm also not sure if this helps with the stress of cold so much as the glare of the sun, which can occur off of ice but also water. An example of a facultative trait for cold stress is vasoconstriction, which limits blood flow to the skin's surface to reduce loss of body heat.
Yes, rounder body shapes are a developmental adaptation to cold stress. This is related to Bergmann's and Allen's rules. You might want to review that from the online information for this section.
Good cultural trait. I think that may be the first time anyone has raised this point, and it seems to be so obvious!
Good discussion on the benefits of the adaptive approach.
Can race really explain genetic traits? 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?
Hello! I enjoyed reading your post and learned a lot. For example the adaptation part of your post, Eskimos having short round bodies for heat and how the shape of your eye can differ due to the cold.
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ReplyDeleteJosh, another way Eskimo's have adapted to living in subarctic regions is to consume large quantities of high calorie fatty foods. By consuming high calorie fatty foods, this helps to significantly increase their basal metabolic rate, which,results in the production of extra body heat. They also wear heavy clothing, and traditionally sleep in a huddles with their bodies next to each other for added warmth. In addition, they also make sure to remain active when outdoors to increase their body temperature.
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