Biological evolution shows us how
a creature can adapt and has adapted over time. If any particular species could
not adapt (change, or evolve), it would become extinct quickly because the
environment is changing all of the time. The changes in a species happen so
that the species can have a better chance of survival.
Many species have done
so throughout the time of life's existence on earth. For instance, there is a
species of moths that have developed ears that are especially sensitive to the
sound frequencies in which bats use to hunt the moths. The moths have adapted
to their environment by developing sonar abilities, like the bats. The moths
were not equipped with this ability before adaptation occurred. This long
process has made this particular moth species stronger and the chance of
survival better. The adaptation does not happen overnight. It evolves over
generations. Changes happen slowly.
Air Pollution/ Lung Adaptation
Our species cannot evolve fast
enough to keep up with the ever-changing pollutants. It takes generations of
changes in the genetic makeup of a population. Sometimes this may take billions
of years. Air pollutants vary widely from city to city, state to state, and so
on. The human species' lungs cannot evolve to detoxify each individual toxin if
each environment is different. People are exposed to different toxins and
pollutants depending on where they live (their habitat). The species would have
to evolve as a whole. Evolution does not occur in a single individual alone,
but in a complete species. If the human species were able to adapt quickly,
there is a good possibility that cancer would be eradicated from our species.
The flu virus adapts; changing to become immune to vaccinations. The virus
becomes stronger as the human race tries to prevent just that. However, the
human species is a more complex system than that of the flu virus.. Being a
simple organism, the flu virus has only minute changes to make in order to
adapt differently to the vaccinations' makeup. There is no possible way,
therefore, for the human body to adapt and be able to detoxify air pollution.
These changes would simply take too long.
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