Heat stress can be dangerous and can have negative impacts on humans by raising their internal temperature too high which disrupts homeostasis. One example would be dehydration. Sweating is very beneficial for you, however while sweating you are losing water and electrolytes. So, if you sweat quite a bit without drinking enough water to replace what you are losing, you could become dehydrated, and depending on how badly it can become life threatening.
Humans have adapted to the stress of heat by evaporative cooling. Evaporative cooling is a short-term adaptation in which your body sweats and the perspiration evaporates from your skin, cooling your body down and returning your internal temperature back to homeostasis.
Vasodilation is a facultative adaptation where your blood vessels expand, allowing more blood to flow to the skin’s surface. The blood brings the warmth of your internal body temperature to the surface, allowing it to dissipate.
A body shape best suited for hot climates would be slender, with long arms and legs which would be a developmental adaptation to heat stress according to Bergmann’s and Allen’s rule. This increased surface area relative to mass helps your body to get rid of some of its heat.
An example of cultural adaptation to heat would be types of clothing you would wear. Light colored clothing, thinner material, shorts, and tank tops. All of this would help to keep your body cooler in a hot climate.
This information can be used in a productive way by the way clothing is being made specifically to suit our needs in a hot climate. This is able to be done because of the studying and understanding of how our bodies react in such climates. So, we get to wear certain clothing based on what will help us to keep cool.
The study of environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand human variation than by the use of race because race does not give you any information on human variation. Race is a social construct. Humans of different races can have the same traits, just as humans of the same race can be completely different. Depending on what climate you live in you will have certain traits that developed for you to be better able to adapt to that climate.
Understand that dehydration isn't caused by heat stress directly. It is caused by the body trying to address and solve the problem of heat stress by sweating. What problems arise from heat stress directly? Think about what happens to the body when its core temperature rises above 98.6 degrees. What happens to the circulatory system and internal organs as they heat up, particularly the brain? Why can't the body function well above these temperatures? This will help your reader understand why adaptations to heat stress are necessary.
ReplyDeleteExcellent identification and description of each of your four adaptations. Well done.
Good suggestion in the next section. Additionally, can knowledge on adaptations to hot climates have medical implications? Can we develop new means of home/building construction that might help decrease heat retention?
I agree with your point in the last section, but let's take it a step further. Yes, race is a social construct, but why does that mean it can't explain human variation? 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.
Hey Darrenlaf,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post and the explanation regarding how our body adopts to the heat. Great way to bring up the Bregmann’s and Allen rule. As I agree with the clothes being made to best suit our climate, we are also able to learn more on how our body adopts to the heat by studying how our bodies have evolved. I agree with your response on how race doesn’t give us any information on human variation because we are able to learn more on how our bodies adopt to the different kinds of climates.
Hi Darrenlaf,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your insightful post on the body's biological adaptations to heat. The Bregmann’s and Allen's rule is also interesting because our body can either becomes our worst enemy or best friend given the climate of the area were in. This is applicable to me because I am pretty tall and take up more surface area. So, in my case I tend to sweat more in the summer and have to drink about 6 bottles of water to keep my body hydrated. It’s interesting how this theory may point out something that I observed and experienced throughout my life. You are right that race is a social construct but it can’t explain human variation because if anyone has lived in a certain area for an extended period, surely, the biological processes can adapt.
Hi Monica!
ReplyDeleteI actually noticed your comment on Emmesha’s blogpost in regards to your daughter becoming very sick in the heat. My mom actually has a rare condition where she is allergic to the sun and does not leave the house at all during the day. I also have health issues myself and do not do well in the heat. We both have a condition called cholinergic urticaria which is an allergy to the heat. I thought I would mention this incase it could help your daughter? :)
In regards to your post, I also chose heat for this assignment. I appreciate the detail you included in this post! I also chose sweating and vasodilation but I did not consider body shape or types of clothing, I think these are both very interesting points!! I remember learning that body shape is shorter and wider in stature for those who live in colder climates so it makes sense that a developmental adaptation to heat stress would be a slender body shape with long arms and legs. Great post!
Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI did not actually know that you could have an allergy to the sun. My mom used to say she was allergic to the sun, but I honestly thought she was kidding and she passed away when I was really young, but now I wonder if she really was. I will look into this because the heat really does a number on my daughter. Thank you for giving me this information. I appreciate it.