Wind chill speeds up the loss of heat from the body

Feels-like temperature indicates how our skin will feel

When the wind is moving faster, we tend to feel colder due to the so-called "wind chill," which cools our bodies by moving heat away from them and making water evaporate faster. On the other hand, high levels of humidity can make us feel 10 degrees warmer at times.

How to survive hypothermia

Hypothermia is a deadly risk for those living in cold areas, causing around 1,500 deaths a year in the United States. Stay safe with tips from this article, which cites research papers to help prevent and treat the condition. Take note of the best fabric to wear when cold weather hits—not cotton but wool.

Batteries are likely to stop working sooner in cold temperatures

The electrolyte separating the cathode and anode of a battery can thicken, impeding ion flow. Lower temperatures also slow the rate of chemical reactions, further reducing battery capacity. Large draws of power, such as when using heaters, heated seats, etc., in a car during winter, exacerbate battery drain further.

Why do you shiver when cold?

Humans are warm-blooded creatures, so our bodies like to maintain internal temperatures separate from and typically above those in their environment. This is made possible by a process known as thermoregulation. When the brain's hypothalamus senses a drop in the body's core temperature, skeletal muscles may be ordered to shiver, sending out waves of muscle contractions and exothermic biochemical reactions whose byproduct includes heat and energy.

Reduced inflammation from cold plunges lacks scientific support

The cold water triggers immediate cold shock, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, and prolonged exposure can lead to cold-water incapacitation and hypothermia. Plungers are encouraged to enter the water slowly and manage their breathing to reduce the risk of shock. Warm baths post-plunge are discouraged, and exercise is generally better for recovery.

Health workers may cool body temperatures with convection cooling

That's spraying a patient with water and putting fans over them. Cooling the body by removing clothing and placing cold water and ice packs—and not blocking evaporation—are essential cooling steps.

Heatstroke—from overexertion or extreme heat—drives core body temperature to 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, setting off a cascade of problems in the body.

Understanding why the thermosphere feels cold, despite exceeding 2,000 degrees Celsius

High-energy solar radiation can raise temperatures above 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit), but the air density in this layer is so low that there would be insufficient collisions between energized molecules and a person's skin to cause them to experience this warmth. Variations in the level of solar radiation reaching the layer cause it to swell and shrink.

Heatstroke occurs when the body reaches 104°F or higher and can't cool itself

Untreated, this medical emergency can result in permanent disability or death. Someone suffering from heatstroke—defined as a core temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit but sometimes as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit—may appear confused and require immediate cooling, ideally with an ice bath.

Most fungal pathogens can't survive the heat of our bodies.

Our bodies cool us down by sweating because water requires a significant amount of energy to change state from liquid to gas, making it an ideal medium for carrying thermal energy away from our bodies.

A history of treating frostbite

Amid Napoleon's invasion of bitterly cold Russia, soldiers succumbed to frostbite by the thousands. Nineteenth century doctors recommended walking and rubbing snow around the affected area. Fast forward to recent years, and the FDA has approved its first ever drug to treat frostbite. Listen to this podcast to learn the history of this wintry affliction.

Heatstroke is when the body's core temperature becomes dangerously high—and needs to cool

Warning signs that the body is overheating include rapid breathing, cramps, heavy sweating, nausea, and feeling lightheaded. Drinking plenty of fluids, seeking shade, and cooling the body down as quickly as possible with icepacks can help reduce the risk of heatstroke.

Cold water swimming can induce positive stress

The tradition of cold water swimming (or taking a cold plunge, or even a cold shower) has been shown to release the same hormones triggered during a stress response. This can have the effect of increasing blood flow, improved mental acuity, and more.

Hail forms in freezing temperatures thousands of feet above the ground

Even if surface temperatures are well above freezing during the summer, updrafts during thunderstorms can push raindrops high into the atmosphere, where they can freeze and form hail. Giant hailstones the size of softballs require updrafts of close to 100 mph.

Wind is the movement of air caused by the sun's uneven heating of Earth

The tilt, curvature, and variations in Earth's surface composition across the globe cause different regions to receive different amounts of solar radiation. As the Earth spins and tries to achieve thermal equilibrium, air masses move and interact, creating wind.

More extreme heat days are putting human health at risk in both the short and long term

America is generally experiencing more frequent extreme heat days, over a longer period, in certain parts of the country. The heat-related death toll is rising, and beyond those direct deaths, extreme heat can also have troubling ripple effects including elevated violence and decreased productivity.

Exertional heatstroke is a leading cause of death among athletes and soldiers in training, and typically occurs when someone sweats intensely while exercising in the heat.

Normal body temperature varies from one person to another; it's not uniformly 98.6 F, as physician Carl Wunderlich determined in the 1800s.

Schizophrenia increases heat death risks in several complex ways

Evidence shows that people with schizophrenia have an inherently harder time regulating internal body temperatures. They may also struggle to find safe shelter during extreme heat, and their prescribed antipsychotic medications often have dehydrating effects, collectively elevating the risk of heat-related illness and death, as illustrated by this article that focuses on the final days of Stephan Goodwin's life in 2022. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Heatstroke is sometimes missed because the patient is really sweaty

Since the condition involves losing the ability to cool oneself, clinicians sometimes see someone who has exertional heatstroke—like a high school athlete who is really sweaty—and don't realize the heat-related illness has already progressed to heatstroke. Classic heatstroke typically occurs among the very young or the elderly. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

The air around lightning can reach a temperature of about 30,000 degrees Celsius (54,000 degrees Fahrenheit)—five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Simple home improvements like proper insulation can reduce winter energy bills

To save money in the colder months, some experts recommend washing your clothes in cold water, using your dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand, and more. This article lists even more winter money-saving tips.

Differences in pressure and temperature between atmospheric gases create wind

Because Earth's surface is not uniformly heated by the sun at all times, pockets of warmer and cooler air will form and interact. Warmer pockets of less dense air will rise, leaving gaps for cooler, denser air to move in. Wind is this movement of air from high-pressure to low-pressure areas.

Being struck by lightning has a mortality rate of about 10%

Near-immediate deaths are the result of electrical disruptions in the heart and nervous system, causing cardiac arrest, but severe skin burns, temporary paralysis, and blown eardrums are more common. About 74% of survivors are left with a long-term disability, which includes brain damage and changes in memory and mood.

Heatstroke can reprogram your DNA, putting survivors at risk of future health problems.

Extreme heat is neurologically impairing animals

Dog bites increase in summer, birds struggle to learn, and goats pick more fights. Scientists are unraveling new details about how heat impairs animals' neurological systems.

Freezer burn is the result of moisture leaving ice cream, something that's easily avoidable.

Heat-related complications are of greater concern for distance runners than cardiac threats

Analysis of more than 130,000 runners in Tel Aviv events during a seven-year period indicated that the runners were 10 times more likely to experience heatstroke than serious cardiac problems. Scientists suggest that runners should take 10 to 14 days to acclimate to a hot climate before tackling a serious run.

Instabilities in the polar jet stream can bring cold Arctic air southward

The polar jet stream marks the boundary between mid-latitude air and the much colder polar air, which are normally contained by the polar vortex—a ring of strong winds that circles the Arctic around 16 to 50 kilometers (10 to 30 miles) above the Earth's surface. Climate change may be responsible for "blocking patterns" that distort the jet stream, allowing polar air to leak into lower latitudes.

How the loss of Earth's atmosphere would cause oceans to boil at freezing temperatures

Many phenomena requiring air pressure, from the flight of birds and aircraft to the act of breathing, would no longer be possible. Because sound travels through vibrating air molecules, the loss of the planet's atmosphere would also create a silent environment. Even during daytime hours, the sky would resemble a clear night sky.

Tidally locked exoplanets experience extreme atmospheric temperatures

On worlds like WASP 76b, which orbits its host star approximately 3% the Earth-sun distance, temperatures on its day side can vaporize iron. Winds more than 14 times the speed of sound blow this material to its night side, where it condenses and falls as liquid metal.

If the Earth stopped spinning, 85% of the world's population would experience supersonic winds

The planet's equator moves about 470 meters per second—over 1,000 miles per hour—and air there would continue moving at this speed for several minutes if the ground stopped rotating. These conditions would cause tsunamis, global storms, and fling debris fast enough to destroy nearly all human-made structures.

Nor'easters can produce thundersnow—lightning in blizzard conditions

Although thunderstorms typically require warm air to rise in updrafts and collide with heavier soft hail, which creates charge separation and eventual electrical discharge, these cyclones can replicate these conditions by churning the atmosphere through strong winds. Rarely, especially warm lakes can similarly help generate thunderstorms during the winter.

Why parts of the Earth are colder when the planet is closer to the Sun

The Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical shape, and winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs when the Earth reaches the point in its orbit closest to the Sun, known as perihelion. The lower temperatures result from the hemisphere tilting away from the Sun.

Certain medications that affect blood flow or mood boost the risk of heatstroke

Drugs that narrow blood vessels, beta blockers that regulate blood pressure, diuretics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics can all affect the body's ability to regulate its internal body temperature, and so individuals taking these medications need to take special care in extreme heat and when exercising in hot conditions.

Rapid intensification is the increase in a hurricane's sustained wind speed by at least 35 miles per hour within 24 hours, which can strengthen it by up to two categories.

Heat-related deaths may have climbed by more than 50% over 20 years

Between 2000 and 2009 one study suggests annual heat deaths averaged around 2,670, but between 2010 and 2020 that figure was likely more than 4,000. Researchers studied 54 million death records from the contiguous US and created mathematical models to arrive at these figures, noting that a combination of aging populations and climate change drove that increase.

Being near a lightning strike—even without getting struck—can be fatal

Because animal tissue is generally more conductive than soil, electricity moving along Earth's surface after a strike tends to travel up and back down an animal's legs, discharging dangerous amounts of energy along the way, with risks increasing the farther apart the legs are. This ground current accounts for about half of all lightning-related deaths and injuries in humans.

Cold-blooded reptiles seek heat, and that behavior may help combat fungal infections

This Radiolab podcast episode takes on the idea that though our human bodies are too warm for the majority of fungal species to effectively replicate inside our bodies, that's not the case for reptiles. Yet when those species warm their bodies by basking in the sun on rocks, they can soak up heat and may also help keep fungal infections in check.

Reaching 2,400 kilometers per hour (1,500 miles per hour), Neptune's winds are the strongest in the solar system.

Menopause and perimenopause symptoms may affect both the mind and the body

Women going through these aging transitions may experience some common physical and mental symptoms to varying degrees, including hot flashes, bladder control issues, brain fog, and vaginal dryness. This article dives into some of the most common symptoms women might expect during perimenopause, plus what they can do to relieve them.

Permafrost—soil, rocks, and sand that are held together by ice and remain frozen for at least two consecutive years—covers about 15% of the Northern Hemisphere's land area.

Heatstroke treatment guidelines were built almost exclusively on research in men

Protocols for the standard treatment recommendation for heatstroke—whole-body cold water immersion—were built based on studies almost entirely in men. The research wasn't replicated in women, who typically cool faster than men during cold water immersion, raising questions about standard protocol safety for women, due to the risk of overcooling.

Music may give some of us the chills and goose bumps—perhaps because it shocks us

The science is still unsettled about why music can trigger a chill down your spine, formally known as frisson, but one theory is that anything surprising to the nervous system—including sudden beat drops or unexpected harmonies—stimulates a type of alarm response that gives rise to this feeling.

Lack of sunlight during Arctic winters can fuel a winter slump and a circadian disconnect.

Heat is the leading cause of death in natural disasters

Floods are a distant second, followed by hurricanes. That's according to data reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dinosaurs’ feathers and greater metabolism helped them survive polar conditions

Studies of dinosaur footprints alongside ice-deposited rock fragments indicate that early dinosaurs adapted to cold weather before the volcanic winters of the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event. These geological events helped dinosaurs to flourish by wiping out their amphibious competitors.

What is freezing fog?

Freezing fog is a weather condition in which fog containing supercooled water freezes on contact with objects, forming a layer of ice and possibly dangerous driving conditions. Get the breakdown with this explainer.

Skin wounds and burns heal fastest if they occur during the day

Skin cells responsible for healing wounds work more quickly during the daytime, underscoring that the timing of an injury greatly influences recovery time, according to 2017 research. Nighttime burns took an average of 11 days longer to heal than burns incurred during the day. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)