Human Variation & Race Blog

For an environmental stress I chose the cold weather. This environmental stress impacts the human body in many different ways. The cold is especially harmful to people of older age. With the cold weather also comes many other risks. When the weather temperatures drop people tend to spend more time in close contact with others or they spend more time inside other places with others such as malls and stores and the flu is especially prone to spread among people. The heart is especially at risk in colder weather because the cold narrows the blood vessels in the heart and there is a higher risk of a heart attack. Hypothermia is when the internal temperature of the body falls too low when the body's temperature falls too low the body loses heat faster that it can produce it and it can lead to heart failure and eventually death.

A short-term adaptation to the cold for the human body is when the body feels the cold the skin receptors in the body react to cause the body to shiver and for goosebumps to rise on the service of the skin. The body strives to generate heat and it shivers in response. 

A facultative adaptation is a genetic trait the humans posses to help itself from the cold weather. The heart has the ability to constrict the vessels in the heart. This process is called vasoconstriction and it increases the blood pressure and the heart works harder. 

A developmental adaptation that humans posses in response to the cold is that people that live in colder climates tend to be shorter and rounder. This helps people in colder climates to stay warm during the cold. Since the person is more rounder the fat stored in the body has the ability to spread within the body and it keeps the organs warm.  
As a cultural adaptation to the cold people in colder climates tend to drink more alcohol. Alcohol makes people feel warm by increasing blood flow to the hands and feet of people. This gives people the warm feeling in these climates.





Race can be used to understand variations in adaptations by seeing how countries that live in colder climates adapt to living in these conditions. I would use the Russians in this examples. Russian people live in a cold country. They have adapted over time to handle these conditions when Napoleon tried to invade Russia many died because they could not handle the cold climate that surrounded Russia. The study of environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand the adaptations above because all adaptations are different throughout the human race. Race is mostly understood as a physical attribution, people have different ways to adapt and countries have their own ways as well so race is not so accurate when it comes understanding adaptations. Natural selection also plays a big role because people throughout time develop traits and adaptations that help them be better prepared for cold climates or other types of climates that the human race faces.

References

3 ways your body battles the cold. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/three-ways-your-body-battles-w/19490777

Hypothermia. (2014, May 26). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/hypothermia

Publications, H. H. (2014, December). How does cold weather affect your health? - Harvard Health. Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-does-cold-weather-affect-your-health