What is Pale Skin Good For?

Most recent answer: 11/23/2013

Q:
why is the color of skin of europeans light
- ritesh (age 16)
india
A:

Although there's no proof, there's a generally accepted answer. People require vitamin D, which we mostly make via a chemical reaction driven by sunlght on the skin. In northern climates, where there's not a lot of sun and people usually are mostly covered up by clothes, lack of vitamin D can be a serious health problem. Pale-skinned people are better able to use the bits of sunlight available. So in cold dark climates, before the availability of vitamin supplements, paler-skinned people would be more likely to thrive and have surviving offspring than darker-skinned people. After some generations of this natural selection, the people left would have pale skins.

Mike W.


(published on 11/23/2013)