Environmental Adaptations

The Zulu.

The Zulu Population live in an environment with a moderate climate. The temperatures in the summer between October and April are warm and rainy, while the temperature during the winter between June and August is cold and dry. To deal with the sun in the hot temperatures the Zulu people have adapted darker skin caused from the greater production of melanin in the body. This blocks out UV rays from the sun and helps the Zulu people maintain the proper temperature that their bodies should be. Maintaining homeostasis in the body is important because if it is not maintained there is a risk of death or illness. Without this production of melanin in the skin of the Zulus they would have a very hard time surviving in their environment. The women have it very hard in the Zulu culture because they have to do many of the things at home that the men do not have to do such as cleaning, cooking, traveling far distances to receive water. The distance they travel to get the water has a large impact on how much energy the women have for the day. They have developed a system where the buckets used to transport the water are carried on their heads to save energy. The Zulu people are of the African race in my eyes. This is because they live in Africa and have similar traits to other African cultures.

The Andean Indians. 

The Andean Indians live all around the Andes Mountains. This is a very high altitude, varying from around 10,000 to 13,000 feet above sea level. The temperatures in this region vary with the altitude and the seasons are measured based on precipitation not the temperature. The temperature can get below freezing and can snow massive amounts of snow during the winters. The Andean Indians have adapted to the weather drastically. They have developed a higher blood flow throughout their bodies, which creates warmth in the coldest times. They have also developed a larger lung capacity allowing them to breathe more easily at such high altitudes. They have also developed culturally to the drastic temperatures as well. They have created warmer housing for themselves to keep their bodies warm enough to survive. They have also made warmer clothes that allow for moving around with less discomfort because of the snow. The race that I would call the Andean Indians is Indians, but that is not a very descriptive way of showing what their culture actually consists of.

I think that in explaining a population it is difficult to show who they really are by describing them by race. I think that the person who describes them through adaptation has much more explanatory power. Race is difficult to pinpoint many of the unique aspects of a certain culture, whereas adaptation allows the person doing the explaining to point out things that might not have been noticed had they just used race to define them.