Cold Adaptation

Abstract

Despite the widely held view that man does not carry out physiological changes to adapt himself to a cold environment, there is strong evidence that adaptation to cold does occur, but it is not as marked as the adaptation to heat, and is more difficult to measure. For this acclimatisation to occur, there must be adequate exposure of the body to the cold; merely living in a centrally heated building in a cold climate is insufficient, and the face can become severely frost-bitten after a short exposure to freezing temperatures, if there is even slight wind.