-------------Human Variation & Race------------

                    COLD                    

             - The body's temperature is regulated, and will react if the outside temperature changes. The body must respond to weather changes in order to survive. For example, if a person falls into an icy pond, the body pulls the blood to important organs to try and warm the body up again. Essentially, any minor change can disrupt the body's homeostasis. Cold weather can cause the blood vessels in certain parts of your body to constrict. The homeostasis is disrupted because now it is harder for oxygenated blood to flow to certain parts of the body. Consequently, the body's defenses are slowed down. So while the body is trying to adjust to the cold weather, germs are then able to flourish for a moment and that causes the body to get sick. There are four different adaptions that environmental stresses known as:

• Short Term - is a bodily function that is responding to early hypothermia or simply just feeling cold. When the bodies temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered which reacts to maintain homeostasis. Muscle groups around the vital organs begin to shake in small movements, creating warmth by expanding energy. Increased muscular activity results in the generation of heat. 

• Facultative -  An example of a facultative adaptation would be, increasing your bodies metabolic rate. By doing things that force our body to boost metabolism, warmth is produced within our body. Examples: drinking water, eating healthy protein snacks, moving around, anything that will increase metabolism.

• Developmental - In colder climates, humans tend to have more body fat, and more body mass due to the weather conditions. Eating more food, causes their bodies to stay warm and insulated.

• Cultural - Different cultures deal with the cold in a variety of ways in order to stay warm. Warmer layered clothing can be used to insulate and trap heat, home appliances, such as heaters and indoor fires. Alcohol is used in some cultures to keep their body temperatures up temporarily.

                  - There are many benefits when studying "Human Variation". First, we understand the use of the word "race", which has more to do with human variation, rather that the color of a person's skin or their nationality. Secondly, the information can be useful to anyone who would like to relocate to a more colder region. They would have a better understanding of how to deal with the colder climate and also the people who live in these areas.   

               - The term "race" can be confused and wrongfully related to skin color.  In this example, race would stand for any population living in a cold weather climate. This is what ties race to environmental stresses. Instead of referring to race as a persons skin color, try focusing on the term race as a whole. Focus on the community, on the population of men, women, and child who have adapted and survived the cold weather climates. These variations can be referred to the location of where someone lives in the world. We can make the statement that the Alaskan race are colder compared to someone living near the equator. Race is simply a way to categorize a population by several different affiliations. Geographical happens to be one of those affiliations.