Dont know if I asked the question right but here goes…. There are times where the temperature is 75F and it’s cloudy and feels cool. There are other times where it’s 75F and sunny and I’m sweating outside. Obviously the sun right? But the temperature is the same? Does the sun not affect the temperature all the time. Also I’ve been in 50 degrees in a humid climate and it feels a lot colder than 30 in a dry climate. I always thought temperature was hot or cold but I feel like sometimes there’s more to it than that. Also I’m well aware of humidity and heat and also wind chill. I’m not referring to those things
In: Planetary Science
What you are asking is “what is the sensation my skin feels that makes me feel hot or cold”
1. Your body is a heat engine that wants to stay at 98.5°. This is most easily done when your environment is below 98.5°, around 70°. This is why you feel “hot” when it’s above 80°.
2. What does your body feel. The “temperature” of an object is not the same as its rate of transmission. A cold spoon feels much colder than a cold book, both kept in the fridge. Air is not very dense, so any change to that fluid will affect the temperature you feel.
3. Humidity adds a ton of water to the air. Typically, more humidity makes air warmer and less makes it colder. This is why dry frigid air is worse than snowfall air, and why 110° dessert heat isn’t as bad as muggy 80°. This mostly has to do with evaporation, the main form of cooling the human body. The more water in the air, the more heat needed to evaporate your sweat. More evaporation in dry air = cooler, less in humid air = hotter.
4. The sun heats the earth, which heats the air. If the sun hits you, you will get warmer. When it hits the water, it evaporates, when it hits the ground, the ground gets hot, cold air gets close to the ground and the hot air rises. When it gets away from the earth, it gets cold. The sun does not heat the air in any meaningful way.
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