Caleb's "Skin Deep" assignment

So in stead of doing the assignment over the "Skin Deep" reading that we got in class, I decided to do the "Say Something" assignment and post it on here. So you all probably know how this works, but if you don't then I am going to find five different sentences from the reading and simply discuss them, and say what i think about them. So please comment, and let me know what you think!!

"Skin Deep"

1. "Geographers and anthropologists have long recognized that the distribution of skin colors among indigenous populations is not random: darker peoples tend to be found nearer the equator, lighter ones closer to the poles."

--This sentence was brought up in my class today and it got me thinking. I think it's kind of cool how people's skin is darker the closer they are to the equator. The skin is naturally darker so that it can regulate the effects of the sun's UV rays on key nutrients crutial to reproductive success. The human body amazes me!

2. "The famous skeleton of the Turkana Boy--which belonged to the species Homo Erguster--is that of a long-legged, striding biped that probably walked long distances."

--Just the thought that at one time the normal human was this Homo Erguster species is awesome. Thinking about how quickly the human body can evolve and change is just amazing.

3. "Anthropologists and biologists have generlaly reasoned that high concentrations of melanin arose in the skin of peoples in tropical areas because it protected them against skin cancer."

--This quote made me wonder if you would have more melanin in your skin by tanning? Or do you have to be born with melanin? I'm confused.

4. "The skin color difference between the Khoisan and Bantu speakers such as the Zulu indicates that the length of time that a group has inhabited a particular region is important in understanding why they have the skin color they do."

--So what i got out of this sentence is that your skin color can also indicate how long a group has inhabited a particular region? That seems a little strange, and i don't understand how it's possible.

5. "The light-skinned people of northern European origin who bask in the sun of Florida or northern Austrailia increasingly pay the price in the form of premature aging of the skin and skin cancers, not to mention the unknown cost in human life of folate depletion."

--If people know that they increasingly pay the price of premature aging of the skin and of cancer, then i would hope they would actually use sun block or something. If the people DON'T know that they increasingly pay the price of premature aging of the skin and of cancer then i really think that they should be informed somehow, because that is pretty serious stuff.