The report points to past and current structural racism as the cause, which creates economic, health care, housing, and energy disadvantages for people of color.
This is all undoubtedly true, but I’d be really interested to know if having darker skin meant your body absorbed more heat from the sun. For example, a car painted black with black seats gets hotter in the summer than a car painted white with white seats.
The difference in skin pigmentation may not be significant enough for it to actually have an impact at all, but I for one, am curious.
I can’t vouch for any of what you said, but I do know my pasty-white ass is staying indoors as much as possible. I burn like a forgotten rice cake in a toaster. That cover photo, fun as it looks, ain’t never going to show me this heatwave.
That may affect statistics slightly.
Also, had heatstroke before. Do not recommend. 0 out of 5 stars.
Melatonin protects against damage from UV, but heat is a totally different animal. I have no idea if skin color makes a noticeable difference in heat absorption to a significant degree, but it makes sense that it would - it DEFINITELY makes a difference in objects that aren’t skin.
Then again, maybe absorbing at the skin allows it to disperse at the skin - back into the environment. Vs that energy shooting right through white skin and dispersing as heat deeper into the tissue, where the body retains it.
Maybe both are at play, making the final measure of heat about the same, despite having different routes.
Physics and biology at the same time hurts my noggin.
This is all undoubtedly true, but I’d be really interested to know if having darker skin meant your body absorbed more heat from the sun. For example, a car painted black with black seats gets hotter in the summer than a car painted white with white seats.
The difference in skin pigmentation may not be significant enough for it to actually have an impact at all, but I for one, am curious.
I can’t vouch for any of what you said, but I do know my pasty-white ass is staying indoors as much as possible. I burn like a forgotten rice cake in a toaster. That cover photo, fun as it looks, ain’t never going to show me this heatwave.
That may affect statistics slightly.
Also, had heatstroke before. Do not recommend. 0 out of 5 stars.
Theoretically, it works the other way around due to higher melatonin content in the skin of those with darker pigment.
Melatonin protects against damage from UV, but heat is a totally different animal. I have no idea if skin color makes a noticeable difference in heat absorption to a significant degree, but it makes sense that it would - it DEFINITELY makes a difference in objects that aren’t skin.
Then again, maybe absorbing at the skin allows it to disperse at the skin - back into the environment. Vs that energy shooting right through white skin and dispersing as heat deeper into the tissue, where the body retains it.
Maybe both are at play, making the final measure of heat about the same, despite having different routes.
Physics and biology at the same time hurts my noggin.