Humidity can make heat deadly by preventing the cooling effect of sweat
The human body relies on the evaporation of sweat to stay cool, but high humidity can block this process, pushing internal temperatures toward a dangerous threshold where natural cooling fails entirely.
The biological cooling system depends on the evaporation of sweat to pull heat away from the skin. When the 'wet-bulb' temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the air is too saturated with moisture for sweat to evaporate. This stops the body's primary defense against heat, leading to rapid overheating even in healthy individuals.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 3-question quiz