Thermoregulation

On earth there are many environments. Each environment comes with its own humidity and temperature levels. All organisms operate optimally at certain temperatures and humidity. Organisms must maintain this temperature even when they are in hot and cold environments. Some beings in nature like the cheetah don’t sweat. Cheetahs operate in hot environments well above 100 degrees F and must dissipate their heat. They must not let their temperatures get to far above 100 degrees F. High body temperatures will harm them as it does humans. Polar bears operate in temperatures well below zero and must maintain their heat. Polar bears can conserve 100% of their heat production to stay warm. In fact, the only thing you can see when viewing a polar bear with a thermal imaging camera is their breath. Every organism on earth has a very unique way of dissipating and conserving heat. An organism’s ability to do this efficiently will greatly influence its ability to perform, kill, and survive.

While humans may not necessarily have to kill, we must perform well in order to win. If we are to hot or to cold, our performance decreases. Therefore, thermoregulation will influence our ability to perform. During exercise our bodies produce a large amount of metabolic heat (heat produced from the actions/reactions in our bodies), and we also absorb a large amount of heat from the environment. The drawing below depicts how there must be a balance between heat build up and heat dissipation. Heat dissipation is carried out by the four mechanisms named in the right hand cube. The human body loses heat by (Click here to become a member and gain full access to the over 400 manuscript text pages of resource information in this website and many other wonderful benefits)

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