Wet Bulb Globe Temperature - Why You Need to Know
While not as common as temperature or heat index, WGBT can provide additional information that can keep you safe when temperatures get dangerously hot.
One tool used by the U.S. Military and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to determine a safe amount of time to work outside is the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT).
What is Wet Bulb Globe Temperature?
According to the National Weather Service, WBGT is an experimental measure of heat stress in direct sunlight that accounts for temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, and cloud cover.
The goal of wet bulb globe temperature is to determine the potential heat stress on people.
All those factors affect how well the body can cool itself with evaporative cooling. Humans and most other mammals cool themselves by sweating. Body heat converts sweat into water vapor, and that evaporation process cools the body.
If WBGT gets too high, the weather can make it hard or impossible for the body to cool itself while outside. To continue reading this article, click here.
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