Seriously, a bad sunburn could limit our ability to survive in the wild. I’ve had a few so bad I could barely move and I had a super high fever. Desn’t that happen to animals? How do they manage?
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We actually do have adaptations to the sun. However, these adaptations are geographical, based on one’s ancestry, and the amount of sun they received. Those with more equatorial ancestry have more melanin, which will collect the UV light and prevent damage. However, in a more polar environment, that adaptation can become a disadvantage, as our bodies also use UV to generate Vitamin D. Keep in mind, these adaptations developed before we were as mobile of a species as we are today.
Now, our bodies also have a reactive response as well, as sun exposure changes seasonally. Our melanin production is not purely regulated by genetics. As we are exposed to UV, that also triggers our body to produce melanin. Our modern lives just interfere with this process being as effective as it used to be, as we now tend to spend a good portion of the time indoors, shielded from UV, but suddenly allow a significant exposure all in one or two days. Our bodies reactive approach doesn’t work that fast, so, without sunscreen to artificially block UV right at our skin, we burn, and experience the cellular damage that can eventually result in cancer.
Hey OP as a person who used to get sunburns especially bad ones and just shake it off like it’s no big deal let me tell you to take this serious.
I got a super bad sunburn when I lived in Florida and five years later I was one of the few people that developed melanoma on the spot where I got sunburned. It was on my back and the only reason I spotted it was because a mirror happened to be facing another mirror that let me get a good angle. I still put it off thinking it was nothing. I got checked and the doctor told me it was melanoma and I got surgery the next day. It was .2 MM from being stage 2.
They’re starting to see more young people get melanoma these days with tanning beds and people with fairer skin moving to the sun belt. It’s getting deadlier as people at the age I got it (26) are not even looking for it.
So to all my fellow fair skinned people. Please take care of your skin. Limit outdoor activities during high UV months to later in the day, wear protective UV resistant clothing and sunscreen.
Thankfully mine was found just at the right time and I just got away with my back all scarred up like a horror movie from the surgery and the bad sunburn.
A lot of the answers to “Why do humans need [sunscreen/clean water/ other safety improvement] but animals can do without” essentially boil down to “Oh, no, animals absolutely can’t do without it any more than we can. They just don’t have access to [safety improvement] and tolerate a much higher death rate because of it”. For many animals, this is another one. Several animals can and do get sunburned, but as long as it doesn’t stop them having kids then, well, that’s just part of life as far as evolution is concerned.
Animals do get sunburned but some know when to go under shade/rest or create sunscreen versions (hippos, pigs etc creating mud layers on skin) whereas humans will go hours under the sun without taking care of their skin.
UV from the sunlight could be really harmful and when bared, our skin is not protected by fur or feathers, particularly white people.
So you guessed it, some African tribes don’t really need sunscreen. If their lifespan isn’t too long, skin cancer also doesn’t bother them.
Lots of comments on the biology. Just wanna mention it is also behavioral. Humans, for different reasons, will insist on staying in the sun even when they can get sunburn. Animals just run to the nearest shelter (or water, mud, etc.) and stay there.
If you walk your dogs, make sure they are protected from the sun and the scorching hot pavement. Get them sunscreen and puppy shoes. You don’t have to walk your dogs if they don’t want to be out there.
A shorthair dog with light fur will emphatically get a sunburn. The family dog needs to have sunblock applied, else he suffers from sunburn. His sister, with dark fur, does not require sunblock.
If you were exposed from (dark, raining, cloudy) spring onto summer, then usually you might build up a particular type of sun damage know as a “tan”, which would darken with more exposure. Unless you’re one of those who are “pigmentally challenged”, in which case you will always burn.
If you can’t avoid the sun, ***please use sunblock***. **The sun (UV) will always damage**, and the need for Vitamin D is alleviated by food additives. **And you can burn even from indirect sunlight.** The worst burn I’ve had occurred in the dead of winter skiing on sunlit slopes, and also under a canopy on a boat. The reflected sunlight was enough to cause burns in one case, and blisters on the other.
Because most of the year humans are indoors working their 9-5 job and when they finally get their 2 weeks of freedom they recklessly go out into the hottest sun and wonder why they got sunburnt. If you slowly expose yourself to increasing sunlight throughout the year, you will be perfectly fine without the cancerogenic sunscreen
This implies people with dark skin aren’t humans, or that all humans need sunscreen. Not all of us do. Humans have lived for many thousands of years in a very hot climate without any sunscreen.
Many animals without fur or feathers can get sunburned too. Thats pretty much why hippos are nocturnal and spend so much time in the water.
They adapted their behavior to prevent that. Other animals like rhinos or elephants have very thick and tough skin thats a darker color. Animals will often use mud or dust to coat their skin too.
We adapted to produce more melanin closer to the equator. The reason people in the more extreme latitudes ended up white was because their diets were lacking in vitamin D and the lighter skin color helped us get it from sunlight.
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