• Question: why are there diffrent skin colours

    Asked by morrisdougal to Ben, Clare, Ezzy, Mario, Sam on 15 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Mario Campanelli

      Mario Campanelli answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      they are not different colours, they are just tones of the same, from the pink-ish to the brown-ish and black-ish. It depends on the amount of melanin present in the skin, this is why there are basically an infinite number of grades

    • Photo: Clare Burrage

      Clare Burrage answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      Human skins have different colours because they have different amounts of melanin in them. This is a chemical which protects skin from harmful UV radiation from the Sun. Humans living close to the equator survived better if they had more protection from UV radiation (because the light from the Sun is more intense here) and so humans living in these regions evolved to have more melanin in their skin.

    • Photo: Elizabeth Pearson

      Elizabeth Pearson answered on 19 Mar 2012:

      It’s to do with melanin, the chemical that reacts to sunlight. The brighter the sun where you ancestors are from the darker your skin will be as it tries to protect itself.

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