Will global warming spell the end of racial differences? Climate change is triggering mass migrations that could phase out really dark and pale skin tones, biologist claims
- In just 125 years, there may be far fewer people with really dark or pale skin tones
- This is according to Scott Solomon, a biologist at Rice University, in Houston
- As people become more physically similar, racism is likely to be less common
Global warming could spell the end of racial differences because climate changewill trigger massive migrations, a prominent scientist has claimed.
In just 125 years, there may be far fewer people with really dark skin or pale skin tones, according to Scott Solomon a biologist at Rice University in Houston.
More and more people will have olive and brown-coloured complexions, according to Dr Solomon who wrote an in-depth feature for MACH.
As people become more physically similar to one another, racism is increasingly likely to become a thing of the past, he claims.
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Global warming will spell the end of racial differences because climate change will trigger massive migrations, a scientist has said (stock image)
According to the 2017 International Migration Report by the UN, there are now 258 million people living in a country other than the one they were born in.
This is an increase of 49 per cent since 2000.
By 2050, 143 million ‘climate migrants’ will face an ‘existential threat’ and be displaced, the World Bank said in a report published earlier this year.
That includes 86 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 40 million in South Asia and 17 million in Latin America.
‘These migrations will erode the geographic barriers that once separated human populations’, said Dr Solomon.
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The wave of refugees fleeing crop failures, droughts and rising sea levels is set to further grow drastically over the next three decades.
‘One consequence of large-scale migrations is what biologists call gene flow, a type of evolution caused by the blending of genes between populations,’ said Dr Solomon.
Over thousands of years, our ancestors developed different skin colours that generally resembled the intensity of sun in different regions.
However, due to sunscreen and other vitamins, natural selection is less important in dictating the colour of people’s skin.
