HUMAN RESPONSES TO

EMERGING CHALLENGES
IN CONTEMPORARY
SOCIETIES
 All of organisms or even human should
possess adaptation traits and these may be:
• Structural Adaptations are physical features of an organism such as shape, body
covering, armament; and even the internal organization (e.g. a penguin has
blubbered to protect itself from freezing temperatures).
• Behavioral adaptations are composed of inherited behavior chains and/or the ability
to learn (e.g. bears hibernate in winter to escape the cold temperature and preserve
energy).
• Physiological adaptations permit the organism to perform special functions like
venom (in the snakes and the like), secreting slime, phototropism; and more general
functions such as growth and development, temperature regulation and ionic
balance. This means that adaptation is making adjustments to decisions and
activities in order to manage risks and capture potential opportunities brought
about by any changes in the environment such as global warming and climate
change.
 They can normally adapt to environment
changes in several ways such as:
• Genetic change is an inherited or acquired modification in organisms that makes
them better suited to survive and a particular environment. For instance, people
whose ancestors have lived in areas that had endemic, malaria for thousands of
years often inherit some degree of immunity to this serious disease.
• Development adjustments. One of the more powerful types of adjustments to
environmental stresses is a change in growth patterns and development. This
occurs in childhood and typically results in anatomical and/or physiological
changes that are mostly irreversible in adulthood. An example of the latter was
the now illegal custom in China of tightly wrapping or binding the feet of young
girls with cloth in order to hinder normal growth. While this caused permanent,
crippling deformities of the foot bones, it also resulted in extremely tiny feet
which were considered to be very attractive.
Parent crippled their daughters with good intentions. Small feet
would make them more attractive marriage partners for rich
important men and save them from a life of drudgery.
C. Acclimatization and cultural practices. All other forms of
adjustment to environmental stresses are usually reversible whether
they occur in childhood or adulthood. These reversible changes are
referred to as acclimatization or acclimatory adjustments. It is useful
to consider the different forms of acclimatization in terms of the
length of time over which they occur. An example of a long term
acclimatization is people who lose excess body fat and are very
slender as a result of mild, long term undernourishment. If they later
increase their diet to a consistent level of excessive calories, they will
very likely retain more body fat and eventually become obese.
D. Use of Technology. Human do not only interact with
their environments biologically. People invented
technological aids that allowed us to occupy new
environments without having to first to evolve biological
adaptations to them. Houses, Clothing, and fire permitted us
to live temperate and, ultimately, arctic regions despite the
fact we still essentially have the bodies of tropical animals.
Human made technology eliminates the biological adaptive
advantages of particular individuals or groups. People who
have thicker layers of fat insulation under their skin still
usually survive better in cold climates, while people who are
slender do better in hot ones.
 Several ways of mitigation include the
following:
• Using efficient energy generation technology
• Using more efficient energy end user technology
• Replacing fossils fuels with none or low carbon emitting
energy generating technology such as renewable energy
sources or nuclear energy
• Adopting a more sustainable natural resource
management.
• Harvesting or extraction technologies and practice.
 THREE TYPES OF MOBILITY OR
MIGRATION NAMELY:
• International Migration is the permanent transfer of
residence from one country to another. It is the change of
residence over national boundaries. An international
migrant is someone who moves to different country.
International migrants can be further classified as legal
immigrants, illegal immigrants and refugee. Legal
immigrants are those who with legal permission of the
receiver nation. Illegal immigrant are those who moved
without legal permission, and refugees are those crossed
an international boundary to escape persecution.
• Internal Migration is a change in residence within a country and refers to a
change of residence within national boundaries, such as between states,
provinces, cities, or municipalities. An internal migrant is someone who
moves to a different administrative territory.
• Circulation Migration is a temporary movement of a person. The change in
residence is temporary due to work or study, but the migrant will definitely
return in his home community.
Migration is not a one-way street. There are reasons why people transfer
from one residence to another because they just want to. Sometimes,
people relocate to other places or countries in the hope of finding a greener
pasture. Some move from an insecure land to a securer region or from places
without employment opportunities to areas which are hoped to offer better
economic, political, cultural, and social prospects. Some people move to
places even if they do not want to a give the chance but because they need
to