"Throughout history, people have had to find ways to cope with varying environmental conditions. Whether they lived in a hot or cold climate or had access to plentiful or limited water, they adapted their clothing and their homes to the conditions around them. With the advent of technology, we gained the ability to heat and cool our houses year-round, and to transport and purify water, making it easier for people to live in settings such as the American Southwest, that were previously inhospitable."
"Certainly, we all spend time tracking the weather via our own senses, thermometers, and reports we find on television and the internet. We speak knowledgeably about what the latest radar images show, and how changing weather patterns may impact our communities. But few of us stop to think how our body measures, regulates, or maintains our own temperature or how our body temperature impacts our physical and mental health."
"A small structure in the brain, the hypothalamus, is responsible for regulating a number of homeostatic processes including food and fluid intake and our body temperature. A component of the hypothalamus called the preoptic area is thought to be responsible for setting and maintaining our ambient body temperature around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Thermoreceptors located in the skin, the spinal cord, and our internal organs relay signals to the hypothalamus regarding our body temperature"
Humans adapted clothing and housing to cope with hot, cold, and varying water availability. Technology enabled year-round heating and cooling, water transport, and purification, expanding habitability into formerly inhospitable regions. People routinely track weather with senses, thermometers, and reports, and note radar and shifting patterns. The hypothalamus regulates homeostasis, including food and fluid intake and body temperature, with the preoptic area maintaining an ambient set point near 98.6°F. Thermoreceptors in skin, spinal cord, and organs relay temperature signals to the hypothalamus, which triggers sweating to lose heat or shivering to generate warmth. Stable temperature and hydration are crucial for survival and influence cognition and mood.
Read at Psychology Today
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