world is one of extremes some places on earth have summer temperatures consistently over 50°C other places have winter temperatures below -40°C yet despite the harshness of these environments some are inhabited by people since the earliest Times humans are spread far and wide across the world and have settled and survived in some unbelievably difficult environments the sustainable communities created by people in these places are the result of the ability of humans to adapt both biologically and culturally to their environment biologically humans and many other mammals are able to regulate their body temperature fairly effectively in order to survive in high and low temperatures