What climate/bioregion is your body adapted to?

Regenerative Subsistence Seasonal & Bioregion Strategies
#21

[quote=“anti_, post:20, topic:928”]So i got to thinking, I’m almost full Norwegian blooded and wondered if my ancestors, might have had a lot to do with it, existing in an extremely cold climate for such a long period of time our bodies may have adapted to being able to survive in the cold better.

just a weird thought… :P[/quote]
Not so weird, actually. Europeans (and, ai’m sure, other northern peoples) adapted several strategies to avoid freezing that are simply not found among tropical peoples (such as Africans). Ex.: when the fingers get too cold, blood is pumped in “waves” or “pulses” through them, in order to keep the blood from forming ice crystals that were too extensive - thus avoiding frostbite and blood clots that other people would develop in the same conditions (doesnt last forever, obviously). Also, diabetes conditions (so ai read) are actually an adaptation to freezing conditions - like saltwater, blood tempered with lots of sugar freezes at a much lower temp.

#22

[quote=“chase, post:21, topic:928”][quote author=anti_ link=topic=981.msg14387#msg14387 date=1232592011]
So i got to thinking, I’m almost full Norwegian blooded and wondered if my ancestors, might have had a lot to do with it, existing in an extremely cold climate for such a long period of time our bodies may have adapted to being able to survive in the cold better.

just a weird thought… :stuck_out_tongue:
[/quote]
Not so weird, actually. Europeans (and, ai’m sure, other northern peoples) adapted several strategies to avoid freezing that are simply not found among tropical peoples (such as Africans). Ex.: when the fingers get too cold, blood is pumped in “waves” or “pulses” through them, in order to keep the blood from forming ice crystals that were too extensive - thus avoiding frostbite and blood clots that other people would develop in the same conditions (doesnt last forever, obviously). Also, diabetes conditions (so ai read) are actually an adaptation to freezing conditions - like saltwater, blood tempered with lots of sugar freezes at a much lower temp.[/quote]

ah wow thats pretty sweet :stuck_out_tongue:

#23

Cool question. Some adaptations like that Nordic anti-freeze over such a short period - assuming only since the ice age ended? - indicate bodies do have a design that works best in a certain climate/bioregion. Even if that adaptation came from people who lived close to ice sheets during the last Ice Age and moved north as ice receded north, it indicates Costa Rica, for example, might not work as well for you to rewild in without a solar powered personal air conditioner, lol.

This time of year, I hate cold weather but just put more layers on (like a thicker fur coat!) and have no problem. Hot summer weather, like in US South East, my body struggles with more if outdoors. I wish I had extra cash for a DNA ancestry profile - mostly Eastern Europe Jewish, but does that mean my body would most like living in Polish deciduous forest, Middle Eastern desert, or Middle Eastern cedar forests of the ice age?

At different latitudes, corresponding skin color also appears to have a strong evolutionary value - didn’t seem to take a lot of generations for albinos to dominate Europe’s gene pool, lol. Apparently vitamin D needs vs. skin cancer have a strong evolutionary force, and so I’d guess one’s skin tanning rating indicates their optimal latitude if living outdoors. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_tanning%23Tanning_behaviour_of_different_skin_colors)

#24

I don’t think I’m adapted to any particular bioregion. I have a pale complexion that sunburns easily, and my ancestory is about 90% English. But I hate cold weather and I have G6PD deficiency, which is a rare genetic disorder that seems to be an evolutionary response to malaria.

#25

I don’t know really, I’m in vic Australia with pale skin. My heritage is just a mess of Europeans from wherever. So the sun burns, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. I love the heat, not having to put up with really cold temperatures, the gum trees, the birds, the roo’s, the creeks, it’s a pretty unique place here and especially in NZ, imagine what it must of been like before it was turned into cow fields and fugly houses. There is one big bad thing about the heat though, the fires.

#26

I guess I’m pretty well-adapted for my current climate, in Los Angeles, though I can also handle the cold pretty well. I have light skin (German and Scottish heritage), BUT I am also part Greek, so I don’t sunburn so easily. I imagine if I spent all my time outside I would tan enough to never sunburn; as it is I only sunburn after hours of exposure on hot summer days, and then only on my face (not counting the areas that get lower sun exposure, like chest and back. Those are unadjusted to sunlight and brun much faster).