Why are white people the only race without a natural tan?

Question

It's not fair.

Answer 1

dont feel left out! theres lots of asians n hispanics thatre really white

Answer 2

Actually, the Caucasian race is the most varied in the world. The narrow notion that only people from northern Europe & Scandanavia are "white" is wrong. Most of the people from North Africa, India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, as well as most Hispanics are technically Caucasian. Skin color has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with race, from an anthropological standpoint.

Answer 3

Skin color is determined by the amount of melanin in the skin. The more melanin one has, the darker they are. When the melanin bunches into spots, freckles appear. Exposure to the sun produces more melanin (hence suntanning). Therefore, people that live closer to the equator or people whose ancestors spent long periods of time in those regions will be darker. It's that simple.

Answer 4

Well, some white people are darker than others. The English tend to be the pastiest I've seen while the Northern ones aren't all blue eyes and blond hair like I thought. You won't get much darker than greek unless you count Arab as white, in which case, they do come dark.

Answer 5

Just think of it as an opportunity to choose the degree of tan you want to have....I am darker in the summer and less tan in the winter, but I get to choose how tan or un tan I am We are so lucky...we are not stuck with the same shade all the time!!

Answer 6

Thats the problem with having ancestors who evolved in northern climates. Likely the mutation(s) which caused the reduction in body hair happened before the migration from africa and before the mutations which caused increased pigmentation.

It is interesting that our chimp cousins are also pretty pale underneath all that body hair. So light skin is probably the color of our common ancestors.

Answer 7

Ha ha...did you actually mean to say that?
Its the other races that are not fair...white people are fair!

Answer 8

well I don't know what you mean by a natural tan...a persons skin colour isn't necessarily a 'tan'...it is a higher melanin production ..but not caused by the sun...other coloured people can tan as well...

Answer 9

Skin color is determined by the amount and type of the pigment melanin in the skin. Melanin comes in two types: pheomelanin (red to yellow) and eumelanin (dark brown to black). Both amount and type are determined by four to six genes which operate under incomplete dominance. One copy of each of those genes is inherited from the father and one from the mother. Each gene comes in several alleles, resulting in a great variety of different skin colors.

Dark skin protects against those skin cancers that are caused by mutations in skin cells induced by ultraviolet light. Light-skinned persons have about a tenfold greater risk of dying from skin cancer under equal sun conditions. Furthermore, dark skin prevents UV-A radiation from destroying the essential B vitamin folate. Folate is needed for the synthesis of DNA in dividing cells and too low levels of folate in pregnant women are associated with birth defects.

While dark skin protects vitamin B, it can lead to a vitamin D deficiency. The advantage of light skin is that it does not block sunlight as effectively, leading to increased production of vitamin D3, necessary for calcium absorption and bone growth. The lighter skin of women may result from the higher calcium needs of women during pregnancy and lactation.

The evolution of the different skin colors is thought to have occurred as follows: the haired ancestors of humans, like modern great apes, had light skin under their hair. Once the hair was lost, they evolved dark skin, needed to prevent low folate levels since they lived in sun-rich Africa. (The skin cancer connection is probably of secondary importance, since skin cancer usually kills only after the reproductive age and therefore does not exert much evolutionary pressure.) When humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low vitamin D3 levels became a problem and light skin color re-emerged.

Dark-skinned people who live in less sun-intensive regions often lack vitamin D3, one reason for the fortification of milk with vitamin D in some countries.

Answer 10

God over looked you guys and simply put away his crayons before the task was complete...