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Feeling uncomfortable at 37 c. even though your body temperature is the same

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lovejoy0120 | 22:52 Mon 07th Aug 2006 | Science
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Recently I was on holidays in the south of France and it was 40.c and everyones clothes were covered in sweat.Why if the bodys temp. is 37/38 degrees do we feel uncomfortable even at the same temperature ?
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Humidity often makes you feel uncomfortable. If there is a lot of moisture in the air, your sweat doesn't evaporate and cool the body effectively, leaving you clammy, sweaty and uncomfortable. In arid conditions you probably would be far more comfy.
Physical processes (metabolism) burn fuel (carbohydrates); the heat thus generated must be dissipated to maintain body temperature.
As mibn2cweus says, the problem lies in dissipating the heat you are generating. The body tries to maintain a temp of around 37 degrees by dumping heat into the atmosphere, which is difficult, if the atmosphere is already at that temp.

The easiest way for the body to dump heat is through the evaporation of sweat, so, as Mortartube says, if the air is already saturated with moisture, this also makes things more difficult.

Here in Kefalonia where we have very high humidity, I often feel uncomfortable at temperatures wayy below 30, but In Rhodes, where the humidity is usually very low, it's possible to be reasonably comfortable at 40.
I'm gonna have a shot in the dark and say that you feel uncomfortable because as you say inside your body is 37/38 degrees. when you are in cooler temps your body allows you to release heat thru the body but when the tempreture is the same out side as it is on the inside you sweat because you ain't losing the heat that you would lose in the shade.

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