{"id":62721,"date":"2026-07-15T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/?p=2579183"},"modified":"2026-07-15T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T17:00:00","slug":"it-is-vital-we-understand-heat-and-humiditys-differing-effects-on-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/15\/it-is-vital-we-understand-heat-and-humiditys-differing-effects-on-us\/","title":{"rendered":"It is vital we understand heat and humidity\u2019s differing effects on us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg\" alt=\"Spectators shield themselves from the heat with a leaflet ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament round of 16 match between Paraguay and France at Philadelphia Stadium in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL \/ AFP via Getty Images)\" class=\"wp-image-2579213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=196,131 196w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=301,201 301w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=415,277 415w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=602,401 602w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=830,553 830w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=105,70 105w, https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_304770074.jpg?resize=210,140 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1350px) 100vw, 1350px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption wp-element-caption--credit-only\"><div class=\"wp-image__caption--credit\">MAURO PIMENTEL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the final of the 2026 men\u2019s football World Cup kicks off in New Jersey this weekend, players can expect temperatures of over 30\u00b0C (86\u00b0F). Indeed, much of the tournament has been played in challenging conditions \u2013 like the high elevation and thin air of Mexico City\u2019s Estadio Azteca \u2013 giving pundits plenty to chew over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one factor has been less discussed: humidity. High temperatures may be uncomfortable, but it is really the combination of heat and high humidity that can make a football match \u2013 indeed, any activity \u2013 physiologically unbearable. Humid conditions make it harder for our bodies to benefit from sweating, as the air is already laden with moisture, hampering our ability to cool down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This impact of humidity is still underappreciated. One way of taking both humidity and heat into account is the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure of heat stress used by sports organisations. As <em>New Scientist<\/em> went to press, the most extreme match of this World Cup (Uruguay vs Cape Verde) had an estimated WBGT of over 33\u00b0C (91\u00b0F) \u2013 a level at which people are advised to suspend all outdoor activity. Most of us simply aren\u2019t prepared for such conditions, as we explore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2533216-how-extreme-heat-affects-the-body-and-the-best-ways-to-cope\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"advert-wrapper advert__mid-article\">\n\t<div class=\"advert\">\n\t\t<div class=\"advert__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"advert__copy\">\n\t\t\t\t\tAdvertisement\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"advert__slot\" id=\"mid-article-slot\">\n\t\t\t\t<script>\n\t\t\t\t\tif( window?.adverts?.addToArray ) {\n\t\t\t\t\t\twindow.adverts.addToArray( {\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"pos\": \"mid-article-slot\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t} );\n\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is really the combination of heat and humidity that can make activities unbearable<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, if we understand the dangers of humidity, we can start to grasp the advantages of dry heat. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2532853-how-sauna-hacks-our-bodies-to-prevent-alzheimers-depression-and-more\/\">We detail<\/a> the many ways in which saunas and heat therapy can keep you healthy, from cardiovascular benefits to protection against Alzheimer\u2019s disease. The key is that saunas operate at extremely low humidity, allowing us to sweat comfortably while reaping the benefits of getting decidedly hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saunas aside, we should still be wary of extreme heat. With European heatwaves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2532809-5-graphs-that-show-how-heatwaves-are-getting-more-dangerous\/\">on the rise<\/a>, the 2030 men\u2019s football World Cup \u2013 to be played across Portugal, Spain and Morocco \u2013 is likely to see low humidity but temperatures of up to 40\u00b0C (104\u00b0F). With no sign of us cutting carbon emissions, the World Cups of the early 21st century may one day be fondly remembered as nice and cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The impact of high humidity on top of high temperatures is often underappreciated, but most of us aren&#8217;t prepared for such extreme conditions, which will become more common with global warming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":898,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/898"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62722,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62721\/revisions\/62722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}