Why You're Fat
The primary circumstance under which animals develop fat deposits in the wild is in anticipation of winter. What environmental cues could signal to an animal that winter is coming? The obvious ones are changing sunlight and lower temperatures. Have we changed our access to those cues over the past half century? Yes - the widespread adoption of air conditioning post-WW2 has limited our exposure to warm temperatures through the spring and summer.
The average building is now cooled to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. This is roughly the mean daily high in Paris or Minneapolis in September. September is about when the vertebrate drive to eat more and store more fat kicks in. Our bodies are in year-round fat storage mode!
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