Human Origins

Geographical isolation in the past has caused a variation in skin color; natural selection selected specific skin pigments depending on environmental factors. Early humans who moved to Europe were introduced to a place that had less sunlight than their former place of residence. Overtime, light skin (skin with lower levels of melanin) was selected for since there were not as many UV rays that the skin needed protection from. But, what was wrong with having dark skin in Europe? How is extra melanin a disadvantage in this case? One thing to remember is that even though the sun can provide UV rays, sunlight is also a great source of natural vitamin D (Jablonski; Kirchweger). Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and is particularly essential for developing embryos in pregnant women. The adaptation for lighter skin was important because the skin needed to absorb as much sunlight as it could in order to receive optimal amounts of vitamin D (Kirchweger). However, too much vitamin D can be fatal. So as high amounts of melanin protected the skin from excessive UV rays in Africa, they also protected it from excessive vitamin D (Kirchweger).

The skin colors differ because of the way evolution works. If you goto the sahara you will be expecting a lot more sun so vitamin D won't be as big as a problem unless you get to much, so people naturally evolved to have darker skin. While on the other hand the people living in the arctic evolved to have lighter skin to absorb more of vitamin D, this is because whiter skin reflects heat, but absorbs more vitamin D.

Variation in skin color does not define human races because with evolution the human species adapt to where ever they are stationary, Therefor farther away from the origin of that culture is from my not have the same level of ultraviolent radiation. People that was located near the equator was exposed strong sun rays

The chapter 1 called "Up To The Starting Line" gives a brief report on the topic of evolution of the first human ancestors. The earliest stages of human evolution took place in Africa with abundant of fossil evidence to prove. We all originated in Africa around 7 million years age. Our closet common ancestor living are called the surviving species of the great apes that are chimpanzee, bonobo, and gorilla. But the most closets animal to humans are chimpanzee. The homo erectus was significantly close to us in modern human body size but lacks half of the brain. Homo erectus were more than an ape but still more different than a human. Neanderthals so called cavemen, had brain slightly larger than normal human being. But the Neanderthals

Biodiversity is very important to an ecosystem because each species plays a different role in the maintenance of the ecosystem.

Human Ancestors, including the First apes, have a very small brain, but with the evolution of conduct, so did the human brain. The rapid development of human intelligence has been attributed to human-induced changes in the surrounding environment changes and the living environment. This led to the expansion of specific regions of the brain, greatly different human mature compared to our ancestors, genetic changes, which are just some of the changes have occurred in humans。

Biodiversity is very significant to the environment because maintaining biodiversity means changing environmental conditions to keep people from harming the environment.

Humans as a species are highly visual animals. Children learn language and actions through imitating those around them and a person’s mood and demeanor is assessed based off of visual cues and body language. Humans decide how to react to situations and people based off of what they see. When considering these observations regarding humankind it seems to be a natural instinct to place heavy importance on what is seen and then add in the other senses in order to further define something. Knowing this it should come as no surprise that how someone looks is an important initial factor in determining how to react to encounters with others. Probably one of the first things that is noticed about a person is the color of their skin, or how it is commonly

Evolution is the idea that species change over time and have a common ancestor. Which means that other species can evolve from the same animal or plant over a long period of time. Anthropology is the study of humankind and some of the different aspects to see how we evolved.

Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world and as such is an important aspect of all human life. Nature provides food, and ways of preventing diseases. Overall, it makes Earth a livable place for all life. It’s been estimated that there are around thirty million species on earth but only around 1.7 million are identified. The issue with biodiversity is that it is rapidly declining in many parts of the world and once the biodiversity in an area is wiped out, it is basically impossible to revive. There are a couple of reasons as to why there is a steady decline in biodiversity. Some of the ways include habitat loss, spread of diseases or invasive species, and climate change. One way the rate at which biodiversity decreases

Biodiversity is an important aspect of all ecosystem, involving complex systems, hierarchies and mutualistic relationships between all species present including nutrient and water cycling, soil formation and retention, plant pollination,

Since people are undeniably, and nearly endlessly, different in appearance, scientists have looked towards genetic studies to help them discover the secret to race. Genetic studies have revealed, however, that 90% of human variation occurs within a said “race” and just 10% of human variation occurs between “races” themselves. In other words, people from different “races” are only slightly more different from each other than they are from people in their own “race.” In a stretch attempt, scientists have found genetic ways to place humans into tentative “races” (1). However, most scientists will agree that society’s idea of race based on phenotypic characteristics like skin, hair, and face are almost entirely “bogus.”

Through persistent research of this topic, I have concluded that pigmentation is one of the most common, adaptive traits demonstrated throughout the World today. When examining the differences in skin tones, it is obvious that a large diversity of people had to “adapt” to their environment. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History emphasizes about the difference “races” we see today without direct correlation to the Sun: “there is also a third factor which affects skin color: coastal peoples who eat diets rich in seafood enjoy this alternate source of vitamin D. That means that some Arctic peoples, such as native peoples of Alaska and Canada, can afford to remain dark-skinned even in low UV areas. In the summer, they get high levels

The earth's natural assets are made up of plants, animals, land,water, the atmosphere and humans! Together we all from part of the planet's ecosystems, which means if there is a biodiversity crisis, our health and livelihoods are at risk too. But we are currently using 25% more natural resources than the planet can sustain it's a result species, habitats and local communities are under pressure or direct threats (for example from loss of access to fresh water ). Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives. Even knowledge of biodiversity, is incomplete and strongly biased toward the species level, megafauna, temperate systems, and components used by people. This results in significant gaps in knowledge, especially regarding the status of tropical systems, marine and freshwater biota, plants, Invertebrates, microorganisms, and subterranean biota. Biodiversity influences climate at local, regional, and global scales, thus changes in land use and land cover that affect biodiversity can affect climate. The important components of biodiversity include plant functional diversity and type and distribution of habitats across landscape. Biodiversity is the foundation for human

It consists of every ecosystem, every living thing and genetic makeup existence. Without biodiversity, life cycles cease to exist. Let me explain. Without pollination from the bees, fruits and nuts would not exist and without plants and trees, there would be no oxygen. Some scientist believe that due to mass population growth, the consumption of resources and the need to expand and build to accommodate the mass population, our natural ecosystems have become disrupted and on the verge of extinction. According to an article by Damian Carrington entitle “the sixth extinction, he explains that the domination of humanity has allocated species to relocate to ecosystems unfamiliar, creating a disarray and destroying biodiversity (Carrington, 2018). In this case, human impact is imperative to changing this crisis. By raising awareness and making lifestyle changes, humans can improve our ecosystem. Some of which include reducing use of chemicals, preserving nature and planting more