How does humidity affect temperature of the air?

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asked Jun 29, 2017 in Weather by Jayegreen (690 points)
How does humidity affect temperature of the air?
How does humidity in the air affect the temperature of the air outside?

1 Answer

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answered Jun 29, 2017 by Minty (132,850 points)
Humans are very sensitive to humidity, as the skin relies on the air to get rid of moisture. The process of sweating is your body's attempt to keep cool and maintain its current temperature.

If the air is at 100-percent relative humidity, sweat will not evaporate into the air. As a result, we feel much hotter than the actual temperature when the relative humidity is high. If the relative humidity is low, we can feel much cooler than the actual temperature because our sweat evaporates easily, cooling ­us off.

People tend to feel most comfortable at a relative humidity of about 45 percent. Humidifiers and dehumidifiers can be used to help to keep the indoor humidity at a comfortable level.

Ever notice the water coming from your air conditioner? That's all the humidity in the air which makes it feel much hotter than it actually is.

The air isn't actually hotter but it feels hotter because we can't sweat as good with all the humidity in the air.

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