If air and the water are existing in the same climate, why does water feel so much cooler than air? Why can we take a dip in a pool (even an above the ground pool) and feel cooler? Does the top of water provide some sort of defensive shield, so only a thin, undetectable layer of water is as hot as the air?
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Everyone below is correct that water pulls heat out of you better than air does, so it’ll feel colder even if is the same temperature as the air. Moving air will pull heat out of you faster too than still air will (hence “wind chill”). Moist air also has more capacity to pull heat out of you.
That said, water will often be cooler than air in dry conditions, because when water evaporates, it takes a lot of heat to do it, and leaves the remaining water cooler. That’s why sweating works to cool you.
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