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As in other mammals, human thermoregulation is an important aspect of homeostasis. In thermoregulation, body heat is generated mostly in the deep organs, especially the liver, brain, and heart, and in contraction of skeletal muscles. [1] Humans have been able to adapt to a great diversity of climates, including hot humid and hot arid.
Convection-cooling is sometimes loosely assumed to be described by Newton's law of cooling. [6] Newton's law states that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings while under the effects of a breeze. The constant of proportionality is the heat transfer coefficient. [7]
Endothermic organisms known as homeotherms maintain internal temperatures with minimal metabolic regulation within a range of ambient temperatures called the thermal neutral zone (TNZ). Within the TNZ the basal rate of heat production is equal to the rate of heat loss to the environment. Homeothermic organisms adjust to the temperatures within ...
The statement of Newton's law used in the heat transfer literature puts into mathematics the idea that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings. For a temperature-independent heat transfer coefficient, the statement is:
There are four avenues of heat loss: evaporation, convection, conduction, and radiation. If skin temperature is greater than that of the surrounding air temperature, the body can lose heat by convection and conduction. However, if air temperature of the surroundings is greater than that of the skin, the body gains heat by convection and ...
Slowing the heart rate reduces the cardiac oxygen consumption, and compensates for the hypertension due to vasoconstriction. However, breath-hold time is reduced when the whole body is exposed to cold water as the metabolic rate increases to compensate for accelerated heat loss even when the heart rate is significantly slowed.
In shivering, the heat is the main intended product and is utilized for warmth. [citation needed] Newborn babies, infants, and young children experience a greater (net) heat loss than adults because of greater surface-area-to-volume ratio. As they cannot shiver to maintain body heat, [citation needed] they rely on non-shivering thermogenesis.
Also, humans had physiological mechanisms that reduced the rate of metabolism and that modified the sensitivity of sweat glands to provide an adequate amount for cooldown without the individual becoming dehydrated. [17] [20] There are two types of heat the body is adapted to, humid heat and dry heat, but the body adapts to both in similar ways.