'Corn sweat' heat domes are becoming more common due to global warming
The heat wave currently baking the midsection of the country has turned portions of at least 21 states into a sauna, with unusually high humidity with air temperatures running up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
On Wednesday, as high temperatures reached the mid-90s all the way into southern Canada, dew points that exceeded an astonishing 80 degrees Fahrenheit sent the heat index — which measures how hot it feels to the human body — soaring into the 100s.*
On Thursday, similar conditions are predicted for much of the corn belt, where evapotranspiration from corn fields is boosting the amount of moisture in the air. This phe**me**n, k**wn as "corn sweat," is helping to make the heat more unbearable in states like Iowa and Minnesota, in particular. Read more...