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Human bodies can adapt to cold or hot climates. They become acclimatized, or used to the climate they live in.
If you visit a place that’s hotter or more humid than home, you’ll feel uncomfortable at first. But soon your body will get used to it. You’ll start sweating more. Your temperature won’t go up as much when you exercise. Human bodies are good at adapting. That’s one big reason we can live in so many different climates.
Question:
Which animal can survive in any climate?
Answer:
You! And all humans. Our bodies deal with cold in certain ways, like shivering. We deal with heat in other ways, like sweating. But the main thing that helps us survive is our brain. We use it to invent a lot of things. Some of those things help us stay comfortable in different temperatures. These things include air conditioners and warm jackets.
Home in Virginia
Home in Malaysia
▲ Which of these houses is better? That depends on where you live. The house on the left is good for most people who live in the U.S. But the one on the right is better for people living in a hot climate with heavy rains. It has few walls inside, so breezes can blow in and cool it off. Its wide, slanted roof keeps out sunlight and rain. It sits on stilts, which keeps it out of floodwaters.
▲ Groups of people who live in hot climates are often tall and thin. Their arms and legs are often longer than those of people who live in cold climates. The Maasai people live near the equator, in East Africa. Their tall, thin bodies help keep them cool. Long arms and legs shed heat quickly.
▲ These Inuit children are warmly dressed in parkas, leggings, and mukluks (boots). How does the clothing make good use of animal fur? The skin is turned inside out. That makes it even better at holding in heat.
▲ This Saudi Arabian boy wears long-sleeved robes. They protect him from the hot desert sunlight. The loose fabric lets air move around inside. Light colors reflect more of the sun’s light. They also soak up less heat than dark colors do.
◀ Winter nights were really chilly in early American houses. They had no furnaces, no central heating, and no electric blankets! How did people warm up a cold bed? They’d put hot coals into a bed warmer like this one. They’d hold the end of the pole and slip the warmer under the covers. After moving it around, they’d take it out. Presto – a nice toasty bed!
▲ Not much rain falls in Chungungo, Chile. This tiny seaside town gets a lot of clouds. But the clouds almost always keep rolling to a nearby mountain. Water had to be brought in on trucks, which was expensive. But now the villagers get their water right from the clouds. They use the mountain and big plastic nets. The clouds cover the mountain in mist. As mist blows through the nets, tiny water droplets cling to the mesh. The droplets drip into containers on the ground. Then the water runs through hoses down to the village.
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Try This!
Why do you sweat when you’re hot? Find out for yourself with this experiment. Dip one hand in lukewarm water, then wave both hands in the air. Which hand is cooler? As the water evaporates, it soaks up heat energy from your skin. That cools you down. Sweating works the same way. Waving your hand in the air speeds up evaporation, cooling you faster. A summer breeze can do the same thing.
