Over the last few years of the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter, the way we react to, and interact with, our environment has become a common theme—in particular, our physiological abilities to cope with heat and cold (thermoregulation) and balance our hydration and electrolyte needs. We decided that it would be a good idea to compile all this information, summarize it, and put it into one handy resource. So here you go.
What a strange species of animal we are. It appears that we don’t quite understand where or how we fit into the nature of things. Every animal species has a specific environmental niche that it is designed to fit into. Each species seems to prefer certain climates and specific ecologic zones and has preferences for food types. This minimizes competition between species and allows several species to occupy the same space while living on different food sources. Humans, on the other hand, have decided to try to conquer and inhabit all possible environments. But, in order to do this we have to create and maintain a tropical environment wherever we go. Hence, clothing. Invented out of the necessity to maintain a micro-tropical environment next to our skin, clothing had nothing to do with modesty or the fashion design industry (all that came much later).
May/June 2005 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 18 Number 3
