There are two short term responses that generate body heat; increase in metabolic rate and shivering. A faculative adaptation can result in a person's body fat. The more fat on a person could keep them warm. This would compare to a dog and their coat of fur, keeping them warm. A developmental adaptation would be a person cuddled up, or rounded into a ball to keep the warmth circulated. A cultural adaption to the cold would include the heavy clothing people wear to keep warm. This could includ gloves, hats, coats, and socks. Even blankets or the heater can apply.
Studying human variation benefits the world in many ways. It allows people to learn how others survive, and gives ideas of what to do and not to do. Adapting in cold weather is hard, and it's important to have knowledge in the subject. Heavy clothing and heaters are an easy fix to being cold, but in the wild those may not be offered. Since they are not offered, people have learned how to survive by different strategies.
I don't think I can use race to understand human variation since there is no connection. Race does not provide actual information, in fact it is just an outdated creation of the human mind. Studying the environmental influence rather than race makes more sense. Race is not due to adaptations, but due to genetics.