Midwesterners, are you hot right now? Blame corn sweat for the humidity.
If you live in the Midwest, chances are there’s a cornfield nearby. And with cornfields come one thing: scarecrows, Autumn’s stooges. However, with cornfields comes heat risk.
Corn sweat and Midwest humidity
Scientific American has explored this phenomenon via a TikTok in which they reveal just how maps of corn production and heat risk match almost one-to-one. Why is this?
Two words: corn sweat.
@scientificamerican Corn has more than just the juice — it also has the sweats. Corn sweat is making the Midwest heatwave even more unbearable. Learn more about this fun 🥴 phenomenon at the link in our bio. 🎤Kelso Harper ✏️Kelso Harper and Andrea Thompson 📸 US Department of Agriculture, National Weather Service #asksciam #extremeheat #weather #cornsweat #humidity #midwest #heatdome ♬ original sound – Scientific American
No, it’s not a term from your local trusted podiatrist. Corn sweat refers to when corn emits moisture into the atmosphere, as all plants do. However, as the video explains, corn does this especially well.
“Where there’s lots and lots and lots of corn grown like in the Midwest, [corn sweat] actually has a measurable impact on the humidity of the area,” says the video, “and when it’s humid, hot temperatures feel much hotter.”
Barbara Mayes Bousted, a NOAA meteorologist and climatologist, describes the situation further in the Washington Post:
“People who live in the Corn Belt will tell you this is something that definitely happens every summer when the corn and soybean growth is peaking.”
The TikTok makes a point to not blame this Midwestern moist heat all on the poor corn (it didn’t choose to be born!), “there’s also moisture coming up from the Gulf, evaporating off of puddles in the soil and other plants evapotranspiration, like soybeans also do this really well.”
What are people saying about corn sweat online?
Though “corn sweat” is an exciting new term for us all, the video warns that the phenomenon should be taken seriously. “Heat is the number one weather killer in the United States,” says Bousted, “and when you have factors that make it worse, like putting that extra moisture in the atmosphere, you’re raising that threat.”
Hear that corn? You’re on notice. Corn’s so nervous right now. It’s probably heavily perspiring. Dang, wish we had a term for that.
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