Climate change could affect human evolution. Here's how.

NBC "News" ^ | September 7, 2018 | by Scott Solomon

[Oldeconomybuyer]

As climate change brings rising temperatures, droughts, shifting patterns of precipitation and longer growing seasons, plants and animals are evolving to keep pace.

Biologists have observed squirrels and salmon developing at an accelerated pace, causing them to reproduce at a younger age. Earlier summers have caused some flowers to bloom earlier in the year.

As the planet continues to warm, evolutionary changes are expected in other species as well - including Homo sapiens. Climate change will alter the internal workings of our bodies in subtle but significant ways and will likely cause a noticeable shift in our appearance.

A warmer climate means malaria, West Nile virus and other diseases long confined primarily to the tropics will spread into temperate zones.

Similarly, our digestive systems will evolve in response to shifts in food availability - where crops and livestock can be cultivated.

Changing diets will also trigger changes in our microbiomes - the bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our guts and help to keep us healthy.

While these changes will be of enormous interest to biologists, they will be largely invisible. But as we change on the inside, we’ll also be changing on the outside. Evidence suggests that a warming planet could melt away differences between human races — or population groups, as scientists more accurately call them.

The reason why climate change could reduce racial differences is that it will trigger massive migrations. In recent decades the world has become more urbanized, with people moving into large cities in coastal areas. But as polar ice melts and sea levels rise, large numbers of people will be forced to flee the coasts. And as droughts become more common and more severe, people living in more arid areas will have to move to places with more reliable sources of water.

[Fungi]

Nonsense.

[Paul R.]

Humans do not adapt to changing conditions, humans alter their immediate surroundings as desired—or migrate to eat someone else’s porridge.

Short term, and when those alternatives are available, that is usually true. However, Eskimos (Inuit) have been found to have genetic mutations that allow them to process their high fat diet differently (more "positively") than, say, white Europeans.

It's fascinating stuff: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150917160034.htm

[SunkenCiv]

This topic was posted 9/7/2018, thanks Oldeconomybuyer.

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[SunkenCiv]

This topic was posted 9/7/2018, thanks Oldeconomybuyer.

[Billthedrill]

Climate change will alter the internal workings of our bodies in subtle but significant ways and will likely cause a noticeable shift in our appearance.

Well, yes - we put on sweaters or sun screen. This stuff is silly. The worst predicted temperature changes don't pose any significant selection pressure to human beings - historically if one crop fails, we grow another or move, we don't grow flippers or pelts, (although there's a guy at the gym I have to wonder about. He says he's part Sasquatch).