Post by FWS on Jul 14, 2014 10:13:17 GMT -6
The next endangered species: Redheads?
Suzy Fleming Leonard
Florida Today
July 12, 2014
The news was startling and a tad bit scary. It shook the very foundation of my world.
According to a news report out last week, redheads may become extinct in the next 100 years or so, thanks to climate change.
Dr. Alastair Moffat, managing director of ScotlandsDNA, has a theory: People who live in cloudy climates have light skin so they can absorb more vitamin D.
"If the climate is changing … if it was to get less cloudy and there was more sun, then yes, there would be fewer people carrying the gene," he said in the Daily Mail in London.
"The gene," by the way, is the one that gives 1 percent to 2 percent of the world's population fair skin and red hair.
Luckily, an article on washintonpost.com poked several holes in Moffat's theory and pointed out that redheads can always use sunscreen and take vitamin D supplements.
Which is a good thing, because growing up red builds character and resilience not found in folks with other-hued locks. They must answer questions like: "Is that your natural color?" And when was the last time you heard a brunette referred to as "Brown"?
"My friends used to call me Casper growing up," says Rene Dunne, 33, of Palm Bay. "I got five tattoos so I would have some color in my skin."
Kris Hansen, 43, of Rockledge, grew up with curly red hair. Ronald McDonald, Alfred E. Neuman, Annie. He heard all the nicknames. Kids aren't very original.
Now that he's 6-foot-7, no one would dare tease him about his hair color.
It's not just the hair, though. The porcelain-hued skin that comes with it can also be an issue. Kris and Rene moved to Brevard as children.
"That aspect of being a redhead is no fun," Kris says. "I don't live my life indoors."
Rene agrees.
"I live in Florida," Rene says. "I don't avoid the sun."
Kris' father was a boat captain. He used to surf. Both run and cycle. And both have extensive sunscreen rituals.
"When I start to run, I have a white layer of sunblock on me," Rene says. "It took a while for my friends to get used to it."
Kris is adamant that his children use sunscreen.
"I was just in on Monday for two surgeries to remove skin cancer," he says. "I have stitches on my head right now."
He used sunscreen when he was young, but back then people weren't so good about reapplying.
"I was one of the few redheads who actually had a tan when I was a kid," he says. "It was like one big freckle."
Rene, who says she'll burn even in moonlight, tried the baby oil thing when she was about 12, trying to tan.
"I lathered up in baby oil," she says. "I learned my lesson. I couldn't sit down."
I'm glad gingers aren't headed for the endangered species list. What would the world be like without Rene and Kris? What would the world be like without me, my dad, my Uncle Cleve and several of my cousins?
Yep, I grew up being called names like "Big Red." I sometimes wished my freckles would grow together so I could be tan, and I'm on a first-name basis with my dermatologist. Although now I have to answer the redhead question with: "Well, it was my natural color until my natural color was gray."
Kris is doing his part to keep the species alive. He and wife Gayna, a blonde, have two redheaded children, Abbi, 10, and Alex, 7.
Rene has taken to dying her strawberry blond locks platinum lately, but she's a redhead at heart.
"It's the cutest hair color," she says.
"I don't think it's going anywhere," Kris says.
Suzy Fleming Leonard
Florida Today
July 12, 2014
The news was startling and a tad bit scary. It shook the very foundation of my world.
According to a news report out last week, redheads may become extinct in the next 100 years or so, thanks to climate change.
Dr. Alastair Moffat, managing director of ScotlandsDNA, has a theory: People who live in cloudy climates have light skin so they can absorb more vitamin D.
"If the climate is changing … if it was to get less cloudy and there was more sun, then yes, there would be fewer people carrying the gene," he said in the Daily Mail in London.
"The gene," by the way, is the one that gives 1 percent to 2 percent of the world's population fair skin and red hair.
Luckily, an article on washintonpost.com poked several holes in Moffat's theory and pointed out that redheads can always use sunscreen and take vitamin D supplements.
Which is a good thing, because growing up red builds character and resilience not found in folks with other-hued locks. They must answer questions like: "Is that your natural color?" And when was the last time you heard a brunette referred to as "Brown"?
"My friends used to call me Casper growing up," says Rene Dunne, 33, of Palm Bay. "I got five tattoos so I would have some color in my skin."
Kris Hansen, 43, of Rockledge, grew up with curly red hair. Ronald McDonald, Alfred E. Neuman, Annie. He heard all the nicknames. Kids aren't very original.
Now that he's 6-foot-7, no one would dare tease him about his hair color.
It's not just the hair, though. The porcelain-hued skin that comes with it can also be an issue. Kris and Rene moved to Brevard as children.
"That aspect of being a redhead is no fun," Kris says. "I don't live my life indoors."
Rene agrees.
"I live in Florida," Rene says. "I don't avoid the sun."
Kris' father was a boat captain. He used to surf. Both run and cycle. And both have extensive sunscreen rituals.
"When I start to run, I have a white layer of sunblock on me," Rene says. "It took a while for my friends to get used to it."
Kris is adamant that his children use sunscreen.
"I was just in on Monday for two surgeries to remove skin cancer," he says. "I have stitches on my head right now."
He used sunscreen when he was young, but back then people weren't so good about reapplying.
"I was one of the few redheads who actually had a tan when I was a kid," he says. "It was like one big freckle."
Rene, who says she'll burn even in moonlight, tried the baby oil thing when she was about 12, trying to tan.
"I lathered up in baby oil," she says. "I learned my lesson. I couldn't sit down."
I'm glad gingers aren't headed for the endangered species list. What would the world be like without Rene and Kris? What would the world be like without me, my dad, my Uncle Cleve and several of my cousins?
Yep, I grew up being called names like "Big Red." I sometimes wished my freckles would grow together so I could be tan, and I'm on a first-name basis with my dermatologist. Although now I have to answer the redhead question with: "Well, it was my natural color until my natural color was gray."
Kris is doing his part to keep the species alive. He and wife Gayna, a blonde, have two redheaded children, Abbi, 10, and Alex, 7.
Rene has taken to dying her strawberry blond locks platinum lately, but she's a redhead at heart.
"It's the cutest hair color," she says.
"I don't think it's going anywhere," Kris says.
that is what happens to redheads. 