Pros And Cons Of Thermoregulation

Disruption
A disruption of thermoregulation can potentially cause unbalance within the body. As referenced in Resource B, one of the cyclists called Sally hurt herself while biking on Day 4. She “clipped my back wheel and down she went, massive graze on the knee and nasty gash on her elbow.” (Resource B) Yet in Day 6, it is mentioned that among the hot temperatures, Sally was battling a fever and nausea due to an infection from one of her injuries. Fever and infection can offset thermoregulation as a fever elevates the set point of a body’s internal temperature in an effort to fight bacteria and viruses through killing the bacteria that cannot live at high temperatures. This is due to the fever-inducing pyrogens (a chemical-like substance),
Regulating temperature allows the organism to effectively interact with the changing environment, and allow for maximum survival. Constantly regulating temperature would be “maximally effective all of the time and so will have an advantage over organisms that don’t”. Accordingly, this advantage is most effective if living in environments where the climate / temperature fluctuate. Being able to continue as normally when the temperature is colder for example, allows for the organism to survive (eg. collect more food, have the best shelter and better access to water) and carry on even when other organisms can not. Even if it gets slightly more difficult to survive in a given environment, humans would be able to adapt as their bodily systems are constantly balancing and changing to their adaptations. A reproduction advantage also links in to this as well. Thermoregulation as well as all homeostatic processes allow the body to constantly deal with change, by means of a ‘balancing act’. Over time, if these are able to continue, “an organism is able to inhabit a wider range of habitats and reproduce more successfully to maintain population.” This is integral to the most important aspect of nature; survival. Being able to survive depends on an organism’s advantages, but also access to better shelter, better food and access to warmth, water and mates. Due to thermoregulation, an organism can inhabit new habitats that other organisms could not have previously done so. Moreover, if an organism’s homeostatic systems become more advanced over time, this gives an organism an increased rate of survival when it comes to interacting with the changing environment. Take the example of the ice age that occurred before Homeo sapiens. The immense and unflappable cold would have meant that organisms with no self - heating processes would