Human Variation and Race Blog
The
environmental stress I choose that negatively impacts the survival of humans by
disturbing homeostasis is living in the high altitude areas, particularly above
10,000 feet. According to the textbook, “today as many as 25 million people
live at altitudes above 10,000 feet”. At altitudes of this nature, there are
many reasons that this sort of elevation can produce stress on the body. Some
examples of the stresses are hypoxia, more powerful solar radiation, colder
temperatures, and nutritionally challenged food because of the territory.
Hypoxia seems to be the biggest problem these people face that live high above
sea level. It is caused by lowered barometric pressure, it is not there is
reduced oxygen, it’s less potent. The body has to make adjustments to be able
to use the oxygen provided. The part of the way the body adapts that was interesting
to me was how the body processes glucose, which is important for the brain and
heart. People that live in this high altitude regions burn glucose in a way
that allows more effective oxygen consumption. The body knows what we need and
changes to provide that for the individual contingent on the geographical. Amazing
bodies we have.
Short
term: Somebody who travels from lower to higher altitudes need a day or two to acclimate
to their surroundings. In that short time a few changes will happen for the
individual, such as; increase in metabolic rate, breathing, and rate of the
heart. Facultative: The
production of the red blood cells increases to carry the oxygen to body parts
and tissue. It is amazing how the red blood cells have the hemoglobin, the
protein accountable for moving oxygen around the body.
Developmental:
People of high altitude grow at a slower rate and tend to be shorter in size.
They have greater lung and heart capacity. There is less oxygen at higher
elevations and this is effecting infants in brain development and mortality.
Cultural:
High-altitude
variation in humans is prevalent the populations in Tibet, the Andes and
Ethiopia, who have developed the capacity to endure at elevation. These residents
succeed well in the highness. These people have endured massive physical and
genetic alterations, chiefly in the areas of respiration and blood flow.
The
benefits of studying human variation from this perspective can help one when
traveling to higher elevations. If I was running a marathon, I would check if
it was a flat run or hills and elevation. I tend to favor the Huntington Beach
one because it is flat. It is already hard work why make it harder.
I believe
the study of environmental influences on adaption is a better way to understand
the human variation than the use of race. The study of environmental influences
on adaption is a better way to understand human variation because the
environment effects all people differently.
The world we live in and the physique is constantly evolving. I don’t
see how race is a reason with how humans acclimate to their environment.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVery good discussion on the dangers of high altitude stress, correctly focusing on hypoxia (as the others are due to other stresses, not high altitude).
ReplyDeleteGood thorough explanation of short term and facultative traits.
For your developmental traits, you correctly explain how populations at high altitudes tend to have a larger lung capacity and a more massive heart muscle. Remember that adaptive traits need to help an organism deal with the stress in question, so how does shorter stature and slowed growth rates help with high altitude stress? Or is that just a result of reduced access to oxygen? For populations living long term in high altitudes, you don't see as much impact on infants but I'm glad you raised the issue of reproduction. What are the dangers to a pregnant woman moving from low to high altitude? Many of the dangers high altitude imposes on reproduction come during pregnancy when the oxygen must move across the maternal/placental barrier. Worth checking into.
Cultural is unique in this post because it is the one trait that has nothing to do with genetics or biology. You seem to still be taking about biological adaptations. What tools or practices have humans developed to help deal with hypoxia?
I agree that understanding the issues of hypoxia can be an advantage when traveling, but the question can be taken beyond the trait you chose. Can the information gained from using the adaptive approach have medical implications? Can we use the information to produce inventions that help us adapt to different environments?
"I don’t see how race is a reason with how humans acclimate to their environment."
You are closest to the point of this question with this last line. Think about the differences between race and the adaptive/environmental approach. The environment actually has a causal relationship with the adaptations in question. That is why we can use the environment to help us understand *why* humans vary as we do. Can you do the same thing with race? Does race have a causal relationship with our adaptive traits? In short, no. Race is a social construct, created by humans to organized and classify the human species. It is subjective and different cultures have different systems of race according to their cultural bias. So if it is subjective and biased and doesn't cause biological adaptations, how can we use it to understand why humans vary as we do?
Good images.
I agree that culture has nothing to do with biological adaptation but race is/has become a definition of it in regards to the differences being discussed. Its perfectly okay to use different races as an example of biological change in regards to environment.
ReplyDeleteCeleste
I.e. Africans have black skin due the climate, environmental. Nordic adapted to.cold climate with developing lighter blue eyrs and skin. These are not cultural changes BUT the are biological changes and define races
DeleteCeleste
I.e. Africans have black skin due the climate, environmental. Nordic adapted to.cold climate with developing lighter blue eyrs and skin. These are not cultural changes BUT the are biological changes and define races
DeleteCeleste
I agree that culture has nothing to do with biological adaptation but race is/has become a definition of it in regards to the differences being discussed. Its perfectly okay to use different races as an example of biological change in regards to environment.
ReplyDeleteCeleste
The use of "race" as an example of biological traits is in context of the piece. I.e. African race black skin is due to climate i.e. nordic blue eyes and light skin is also due to climate.
ReplyDeleteCeleste
The use of "race" as an example of biological traits is in context of the piece. I.e. African race black skin is due to climate i.e. nordic blue eyes and light skin is also due to climate.
ReplyDeleteCeleste