Physically speaking, people of sub-Saharan African descent (i.e., people of the so-called Negroid race) are built for the heat. They are taller and lankier. They have thinner blood, and probably a whole host of other things the acclimate them perfectly for the hot weather. Now we all know Eskimos could never survive in hot weather. And African-Americans obviously don’t have any problem as dramatic as this. But my question is, just statistically speaking, are African-Americans more likely to suffer frostbite than say, people of French descent? I’ve always wondered this, and I also wonder if there have ever been studies done on this.
Essentially all your assumptions are wrong. There’s no evidence that blacks are taller and lankier than whites. On the contrary, I think I’ve seen statistics that say that the average adult black American is slightly heavier and shorter than the average adult white American. The term “thinner blood” doesn’t even make sense, so that claim doesn’t even make any sense. Eskimos can get by just fairly well in hot weather.
There’s a saying: there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
You get frostbite from overexposure to subzero weather and wearing inadequate clothing. You adapt to the cold by wearing layers of clothes – and given the huge numbers of people of African descent who live in cold winter climes like New York meroploitan area, Chicago and Detroit – frostbite isn’t much of a problem if you know what to wear.
In one of Cecil’s columns, the Great Font of Wisdom states that Eskimos are indeed built for cold weather, and that apparently many of them will begin to feel uncomfortably hot when temperatures reach the 40’s.
My own experience (totally antecdotal and non-scientific) is that, on average, black people do seem to have less cold tolerance than white people. It definitely seems like they take out the heavy winter coats earlier than many white people. But again, it’s nothing that a good warm coat won’t fix.
What Cecil says is that “it has been reported” that Eskimos are uncomfortable if the temperature is above 40 degrees. I don’t believe that. Most of his argument consists of saying that Eskimos are short and heavy. I’m shorter than the average Eskimo and heavy too. I can stand hot weather just fine (although it’s possible that taller, thinner people may find it slightly easier to stand it).
The claim is made because inuits have shorter legs and bigger broader chests. This is heat-saving because it reduced surface area to volume ratio. It is also entirely possible(read:WAG) they may have evolved a biochemistry which generates more heat.
Actually, so the famous point goes, sub-Saharan Africans have more variation in size than anybody else. Both the tallest and shortest groups of people live there.
I’m trying to remember my cold weather survival training. I think the initial signs of frost-bite may be harder to spot on a dark skinned person. This might mean that more will get frost bite because it is not recognized as soon. Of course I have no statistics to back that up.
Funny how the first few tried to quickly discredit the OP, even the Eskimo part that even Cecil had to admit there may be some truth. Why is it so hard to admit that people may be different
Anyway to a certain extent people can adjust to temperatures they are exposed to. If you lived in a warm climate and moved to the cold north (which I have) you find that you can withstand colder temps, I feel as comfortable at 10F as I did at 30F when I lived in a warmer location.
Besides this I’m sure that genetics/heritage do have an effect, as well as how one was brought up. People who assume they are meant for warm weather will assume that they belong there and will try to avoid the cold, which reinforces my 1st point as they will not acclimate to it. It would make sense also that a people with a certain temp range would adjust to those ranges.
> The claim is made because inuits have shorter legs and bigger broader chests.
I have short legs and a broad chest. I can get along just fine in hot weather. I was replying to this statement in the OP:
> . . . we all know Eskimos could never survive in hot weather . . .
If all he had said was that Eskimos have a harder time in hot weather, I wouldn’t have had any problem with that. What he claimed was that Eskimos can’t survive in hot weather. That’s absurd. I’m built just like an Eskimo (shorter than the average Eskimo, in fact, and heavy with short legs and a broad chest). I can get along fine in hot weather. Taller, thinner people might be able to get along better, but I can get along fine. Indeed, the one problem that I have and Eskimos might have is that I have to be careful about getting too much sunlight because I have such fair skin.
My problem with the OP was that most of the assumptions that Jim B. makes in the OP are wrong or absurd. There’s no such thing as “thinner blood.” Blacks are not taller and lankier than whites. Eskimos can survive in hot weather, although they may not like it as much. Whether blacks are more likely to get frostbite than whites is not a question I’m qualified to address, and I didn’t address it.
Loach, thanks for the cite. I’m mildly curious whether this includes all instances of frostbite, including superficial injuries, or just the serious-lose-some-digits variety. Also I wonder how big the samples are and how big the discrepency is.
My home in America is near Detroit and all the Black people there seem just fine in the winter.
As far as I can tell, Black people are identical to White people in all respects, except looks.
Interesting point. It’s just getting cold now in China and all the Han Chinese people I know seem to be doing just fine as well. Again, they are identical to us White folk.
I live about 45 miles from your U.S. home and yes, it does get butt-cold here, doesn’t it?
I appreciate your outlook (people are people) but I think it’s important to point out that the OP was asking about a physiological differences in how the human body tolerates exposure to very cold temperatures.
Frostbite happens when the human body is exposed to very cold temperatures for a long period of time (or, extremely cold temperatures for a short period of time). Anecdotes about how me, my black neighbor, and my asian neighbor seem “fine” in the winter with our sensible clothes, insulated houses, and central heat don’t really answer the question. Nor do they disprove empirical studies on the matter (assuming those are valid). How we sensible people with our down jackets get by during the cold months doesn’t tell us much about frostbite (although I may be singing a different tune in February).
Anecdotally, I knew a fellow from Barbados who’s lived in Canada for many years.
When he went back home to visit, he went to a soccer game with some friends. As the evening came, everyone in the stands started producing jackets, and they were surprised that my friend considered it to still be T-shirt temperature.
In short, people (even individuals) adjust to different climates pretty quickly.
I have never heard of blacks being more susceptible to frostbite. If they put on clothing at higher temperatures, this would make them less susceptible. I have seen lots of frostbite which is usually caused by people being poorly dressed in cold conditions (not wearing skiing face protection, e.g., or working in unheated vehicles).
I believe eskimos are an exception to the rule in that they actually evolved internal physiological differences. It’s not just a matter of short & squat, eskimos have the ability to re-route warm blood to their extremeties even when cold which helps fight frost bite. The reason most people get frostbite is that the body instinctively tries to keep only the core warm, sacrificing the arms & legs in the hopes of getting another few hours of life.
I’ve heard of this mysterious ability to reroute blood. I believe it’s called, “having a heartbeat.”
People get frostbite because of subzero temperatures and wind exposure that damages the skin. The core of anything is going to be the last affected by temperature changes; there’s nothing ‘instinctive’ about this.
