Health & Medicine Redheads could become extinct due to climate change!

[Second Summer]

• Experts believe Scotland's gloomy climate is behind emergence of red hair
• The adaptation helps redheads absorb more vitamin D on cloudy days
• But as the world warms, more sun could mean the trait is not helpful

Only about 1-2 per cent of the world’s population has red hair but in Scotland the figure is much higher, with about 13 per cent, or 650,000 people, with flaming locks.

Full story: Redheads could become extinct in Scotland as the country warms up because of climate change (The Daily Mail, 6 July 2014)

Now we really have to do something about climate change!

 

[beancounter]

Humans function outside of evolution, so no worries. Its not the climate that "selects" hair color, but rather whether or not a red headed person can find a mate and pass on the necessary genes.

 

[ledboots]

Gingers 4evah! I have lots in my family (from the scottish, irish ancestors). My sister is a redhead and so is her adorable 3 year old granddaughter..

 

[GingerFoxx]

I am not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Technically we redheads are an endangered species though, because of the recessive traits involved. I'll rock my natural hair color as long as I got it.

 

[yakherder]

People will just spend less time outdoors and/or use more sunscreen. Plus with the advent of designer babies, I'm sure many people will opt to have redheads.

 

[ledboots]

I am not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Technically we redheads are an endangered species though, because of the recessive traits involved. I'll rock my natural hair color as long as I got it.

My sister is 58 and still nice and red. She's deep red now with some little white (not gray, pure white) that just makes it a softer color. I've always loved her hair; I'm dark blonde with some of that white in there like Big Sis has too.

 

[GingerFoxx]

My sister is 58 and still nice and red. She's deep red now with some little white (not gray, pure white) that just makes it a softer color. I've always loved her hair; I'm dark blonde with some of that white in there like Big Sis has too.

I hope my natural color lasts a long time. I hear redheads tend to go white younger than the rest of the population. Folks pay good money to get this color, so I'll enjoy it as long as I can, for free.

 

[Spang]

According to this article, gingers are not being wiped out by climate change.

At this point I’d love to spend a few paragraphs going through the research, explaining what the scientists involved did and pointing out any issues with their methodology; it makes these things a lot easier to write. Unfortunately, I can’t, because there doesn’t actually seem to be any of that whatsoever. Instead, the story appears to be based entirely on the conjecture of Dr. Alistair Moffat, MD, of a Scottish consumer DNA-testing company called “ScottishDNA.” It isn’t even published as a press release on their website, let alone in an actual study.

To back this speculation up, the Daily Record’s "Scotland Now" blog approached another scientist who agreed with the research, but who “asked not to be named because of the theoretical nature of the work.” This mysterious spewer of science-y sound bites was so confident in the work he was commenting on that he didn’t want his name to be publicly associated with it. And while we’re looking at the people involved, it’s not entirely clear why the Record has called Moffat "Dr. Moffat" in the first place, given his main career was as a journalist at STV, and the company website lists his qualifications as an MA and M.Phil, the former apparently in medieval history.

 

[Tom L.]

My Mom was a redhead, and if red hair is recessive (as I think it is), that would mean I've inherited the redhead gene from her- because she would have had to have the red gene on both her chromosomes, and I would have gotten it.

I'd rather be ginger than bald. Yeah, redheads burn more easily- but so do I if I'm not careful, now that I don't have any natural shading on my roof. Guess I'll have to get a railroad hat to wear in the summer.

 

[Dropkick]

That's what's happening! I was blond until my late 20's and my beard used to be almost totally red, now most of my hair is brown and I just have patches of red in my beard and mustache! Global warming is stealing my Scottish ancestry from me! I thought it was just some genetic thing.

(Actually my Scottish ancestry comes from my Mom's family and they have brown hair, my Dad is mostly English and German and he's blond - his Dad was a redhead)

 

[das_nut]

Wow, this was a trollific article (the linked one, not this thread). But what can you expect from the Daily Fail?