Question: Does black people absorb heat more than white people because of the darker skin colour

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  1. I’m not a physics specialist but I found this when I did some reading:

    “While dark skin is better protected from ultraviolet radiation, it does absorb more of the energy in visible light than light skin. But most of the sun’s heat comes in invisible infrared radiation. Dark and light skin are the same color in that range. Dark skin absorbs no more heat than light skin does.”

    Hopefully that helps, looks like the answer is it doesn’t absorb more heat, but it is better protected! Thanks for the question! I learned something too!!

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  2. Black as a colour does absorb more heat. Black/dark skinned people are darker in colour as there is more melanin the their cells. Dark skin actually protects against ultraviolet light and skin cancers, where light-skinned people are at greater risk of dying from skin cancer, compared with dark-skinned persons, under equal sunlight exposure. Meaning, you see light skin people getting more and more sun-burn, the same type of radiation can in fact cause skin cancer.
    However, for the exact same reason, dark skinned people often have very low vitamin D levels. Vitamin D is involved in the absorption of calcium and is required for good bone strength as well as other things.

    So in conclusion, although you’d think that the darker colour of peoples skin would make them absorb more heat, it actually serve a protective function.

    The colour of your skin is also dependent on the geographical location of individuals.

    Hope that makes sense kaffuflemmuffinz (i have no idea what your name means! LOL)

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