Adaptation are 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 have spread far and wide across the world and I 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 and high and low temperatures some scientists say that the human body has adapted biologically over thousands of years Bergman a German biologist living in the 19th century studied how animals adapt to different climates and his findings lead him to create the Berkman rule this rule states that individuals of a particular species living in a colder environment will have a greater body mass and relatively smaller body surface area than those living in a hotter environment the polar bear is a very clear example of this biological modification the polar bear has a larger more compact body and a surface area smaller than that of bears who live in warmer climates the consequence of this adaptation is much less heat loss to the surface of the
body originally the Bourbon rule was applied to animals only though subsequently it has been applied to the human species to of course application of the rule is limited but to some extent it does describe differences between human populations for example the Inuit people living in the Arctic region typically have shorter arms and legs and more compact bodies than humans living in warmer climates this minimizes surface area and maximizes heat retention another biological adaptation is the greater store a fat found under the skin of the Inuit population again facilitating heat retention cultural adaptations in different human populations can be seen in food clothing housing and basic technologies used by different groups of people around the world for example Bedouin people living in desert areas of the Middle East demonstrate clear cultural adaptations in their dress typical Bedouin clothing is long and loose therefore allowing air to circulate and slowing the evaporation of sweat and dehydration head cloths are used to keep the sun off and also to protect from wind and sand because of their nomadic lifestyle the Bedouin diet largely consists of the foods that travel with them that is to say milk and meat from the animals they take with them by nature humans are survivors and they will continue to adapt to the environment around them to create sustainable communities as they have done for millennia