Compare and contrast the wind-chill factor and the heat index

What will be an ideal response?


The wind chill factor quantifies the enhanced rate at which body heat is lost to the air. On cold, windy days, increased wind speeds can increase heat loss from the skin. The result is an apparent temperature cooler than the actual air temperature. The National Weather Service (NWS) uses a wind-chill temperature index to plot the wind chill factor, using actual air temperature and windspeed as the factors. Similarly, the NWS reports a heat index which uses temperature and relative humidity as factors to indicate likelihood of heat disorders. When humidity is low and windspeed is high on high temperature days, evaporative cooling help keep body temperature within appropriate range. However, on hot days with high humidity, coupled with low wind speeds, evaporative cooling is diminished and the risk of heat stress rises.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

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The principle hazard of microbursts to aircraft in the process of taking off or landing is

A) windblown sand and dust damaging jet engines. B) sudden changes in lift and tailwinds. C) Doppler radar. D) lightning.

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Niagara Falls were formed ________

A) by humans damming of the St. Lawrence River B) during Precambrian time approximately a billion years ago C) so long ago that the river's knickpoint is now gone D) after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice sheets a few thousand years ago E) after a series of spectacular earthquakes which are still helping the falls evolve

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences