Explain how human skin color reflects adaptations to varying amounts Essay

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