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Adaptations in humans can be physiological, genetic, or cultural, which allow people to live in a wide variety of climates. There has been a great deal of research done on developmental adjustment, acclimatization , and cultural practices, but less research on genetic adaptations to colder and hotter temperatures.
The Adaptation Gap Report November 2023, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), reveals an adaptation finance gap of $194 billion to $366 billion annually. The adaptation needs in developing countries are estimated to range from $215 billion to $387 billion per year, which is 10-18 times the current international public ...
The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment". [2] The focus of its research concerns "how cultural beliefs and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments, and how people used elements of their culture to maintain their ecosystems". [1]
An adaptive system is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole that together are able to respond to environmental changes or changes in the interacting parts, in a way analogous to either continuous physiological homeostasis or evolutionary adaptation in biology.
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.
Cultural ecology as developed by Steward is a major subdiscipline of anthropology. It derives from the work of Franz Boas and has branched out to cover a number of aspects of human society, in particular the distribution of wealth and power in a society, and how that affects such behaviour as hoarding or gifting (e.g. the tradition of the potlatch on the Northwest North American coast).
Environmental effects on human physiology are numerous; one of the most carefully studied effects is the alterations in thermoregulation in the body due to outside stresses. This is necessary because in order for enzymes to function, blood to flow, and for various body organs to operate, temperature must remain at consistent, balanced levels.
This role, commonly known as an ecological niche, is simply how an organism lives in an environment in relation to others. [3] Over successive generations, the organism must adapt to their surrounding conditions in order to develop their niche. An organism's niche will evolve as changes in the external environment occur.