Climate Shaped the Human Nose, Researchers Say (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Human noses have been shaped by climate, according to research probing variation in the human snout. Researchers say their findings back up the theory that wider nostrils developed in populations living in warm, humid conditions, while populations living in high latitudes, such as northern Europe, developed narrower nostrils as an adaptation to the chilly, dry conditions. Writing in the journal Plos Genetics, researchers from the U.S., Ireland and Belgium describe how they began to unpick variations in nose shape by using 3D facial imaging to take a host of measurements from 476 volunteers of south Asian, east Asian, west African and northern European ancestry. The results revealed that only two out of seven nose-related traits were found to differ more between the populations than would be expected from the impact of random, chance changes in genetic makeup over time. The authors say that suggests variations in those traits have been influenced by natural selection. With further analysis, based on data from participants of west African and European ancestry, confirming that nose shape is highly heritable, the team looked to see if there was a link between nose shape and climate. The results showed that nostril width is linked to temperature and absolute humidity, with participants whose ancestors lived in warm-humid climates on average having wider nostrils than those whose ancestors lived in cool-dry climates. That, says Arslan Zaidi, co-author of the study from Pennsylvania State University, could be because narrower nasal passages help to increase the moisture content of air and warm it -- a bonus for those in higher latitudes.

Comments

Re:Don't ask for whom the nose blows

[Knuckles]

When I get a flu, almost always it's my right nostril that gets clogged. Left nostril rarely clogs. What could be the cause? I tend to sleep on my right side.
Oh well, I can live with that. As long as my nose doesn't start whistling.

I had what seems the same condition, also associated with chronic sinusitis due to resulting reduced ventilation of nose and sinuses. Most likely you have a deviated septum and/or an enlarged turbinate (nasal concha) on the clogged side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The enlarged turbinate usually goes hand in hand with the deviated septum because the turbinate tends to grow into the room provided by the deviation, resulting in poor air passage on this side.

People with this condition tend to sleep ion the side with the enlarged turbinate because this tends to alleviate the breathing problems.

You should see an ENT doctor and discuss an operation for septum deviation and measures to fix the turbinate. This may be combined with FESS (Functional endoscopic sinus surgery) to fix associated problems in the sinuses at the same time. I just had the surgery done 2 weeks ago:
1. Septum deviation fixed
2. Lateralisation of both turbinates (see further down)
3. Somnoplasty of the right turbinate (see further down)
4. Infundibulotomy of the ethmoidal infundibulum, i.e., a size increase of the the opening between nasal cavity and sinus maxillaris, to help with ejection of mucus from the sinus. (In humans, the opening is suboptimally placed on the top of the sinus maxillaris due to upright walk. It also tends to grow closed as a result of chronic sinusitis). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I am super happy with the results. Until a few years ago this surgery (and the subsequently required tamponade for hemostasis) could be quite bad, but with modern endoscopic surgery and modern hemostatic techniques (e.g., Doyle splint or Doyle combo splint) it is not a biggie at all.

Note that turbinate reduction (conchotomy) was overdone in the past, leading to severe issues like Empty Nose Syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
DO NOT let anyone do a complete removal (turbinectomy) - no good ENT would do this nowadays, if someone wants to, they are quacks.
The same goes for turbinate sectioning (i.e., cutting off smaller parts of the turbinate). This also is a bloody hack job which does not lead to sustained improvement as the turbinate will regrow over a few years.

Good options are:
1. Lateralization of the inferior (lower) turbinates. The turbinate is separated from the underlying bone, moved laterally, and reattached. This increases the air passage without inflicting any wounds on the turbinate (apart from the minor surgery wounds which heal quickly)
2. If lateralisation is not sufficient because the turbinate is already too large, additional somnoplasty (bipolar radiofrequency ablation) is an option. Lower layers of the turbinate are destroyed by heat, and the subsequent contracting of the scar leads to size decrease.