Why is a hot bath or shower so comfortable and warm but weather at the same temperature would be (almost literally) hell?
In: Biology
Your body produces heat which it has to remove to stay within a small range of acceptable body temperature.
Removing heat to air is pretty slow, while water absorbs your body heat much faster. Hence 20 degree (C) air is ok, while 20 degree water feels really cold, and running around drunk in 0 degree weather for a few minute is fine, while 0 degree water will kill you in that time.
Water is thermally neutral at something like 35 degrees C. A few degrees below and you’ll lose heat and it will feel cold, a bit above, and it will quickly become unbearable and even dangerous.
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