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As if they didn’t have enough to worry about already, redheads could be the next victims of climate change.
A geneticist from Scotland, the home of redheads, has told the British media that he believes climate change will reduce the prevalence of red hair.
The Independent reported that Dr Alistair Moffat claims that red hair is a natural adaptation to the climate in Northern Europe.
“The reason we have fair skin and red hair is because we don’t get enough sun and we need to get as much vitamin D as possible,” says Dr Moffatt, managing director of ScotlandsDNA, based in Galashiels.
“If the climate changes and it becomes cloudier or less cloudy, then that will affect the gene. If it were less cloudy and there was more sun, then there would actually be fewer people carrying the gene,” he argued.
Between 1 and 2 percent of the world’s population has red hair, making red hair the rarest hair color in the world.
Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads: 13 percent of the Scottish population has red hair. Overall, it is believed that 40 percent of Scots carry the recessive gene for red hair.
Next on the list is Ireland: 10 percent of Irish people are blessed with red hair.
While red hair is believed to allow people in sun-poor regions (such as Scotland and Ireland) to produce maximum vitamin D, the color red is also associated with a higher risk of skin cancer.
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