Explain how human skin color reflects adaptations to varying amounts of sunlight - Essay Example

Full Skin Color and Melanin For centuries, skin color seemed to have determined not only the cultural and racial background of people but also affected how people perceived each other. Dark-skinned people were considered dirty and therefore used for difficult jobs such as farming as it has been shown by the common knowledge that they have been enslaved for years. On the other hand, white-skinned people were seen as more superior than other skin colors. However, with the increase in knowledge and understanding that science brought to the modern world, more and more people come to realize that their skin color is not something to boast about or be ashamed of.

Rather, it is something that should be appreciated because it only shows how the human body naturally adjusts to the environment. It is believed that Africans and other races with similar skin color have darker coloration because of more melanin that the body produces as an effect of the warmth of the sun. Melanin is the pigment that determines skin color. When a person stays under the sun, more melanin is produced and therefore creates a darker skin color. That is why, when a white person tans or stays under the sun, there would be a darkening of the skin.

The same happens in darker-skinned people but the effect is not as obvious as the one on white people. On the contrary, dark-skinned people who stay longer in colder places tend to have fairer skin than other people of the same race who live in warmer places. Since they are not often exposed to the sun, there is no need for more melanin so they tend to have lighter skin color instead.