Humidity Meltdown
|  Video
|
| Anne Kelly |
| 7/28/2008 |
 |
| With humidity levels reaching 60-percent and beyond today, it feels much hotter than it actually is. The amount of moisture in the air is not only annoying at times, it can also effect everything from our ability to breath to how long our electronics last. It`s muggy outside, making breathing and just about anything else unpleasant for almost anyone, but especially for people with asthma, emphysema, or bronchitis. "Because the air is so much heavier and filled with that water vapor, it tends to make the breathing a little harder and so patients with lung disease will often become more short of breath during the high humidity season," says Teri Ronglien, a respiratory therapist. Exercising outdoors becomes more of a chore too, because the risk of overheating increases as the humidity does, because sweat isn`t evaporated into the air. "The air can`t carry that humidity, it`s already got moisture in it and so it`s harder for the body to cool down," Ronglien says. The solution is to towel down regularly and keep yourself hydrated to cool yourself from the inside out. But humidity doesn`t just make our bodies hot, the moisture can also mess with our electronics and mechanics. Clarence Saylor of Feist Electronics says high humidity exposure over an extended period of time, can cause electronics to corrode. "The other thing that we see is water droplets can form on part, components, and since water is a conductor it just shorts out components," Saylor says. He says one way to prevent condensation from humidity it by using a fan to keep air flowing through the vents of your electronics on humid days. But perhaps one of the most immediate and obvious ways humidity harms people is by messing up their hair. "Because it opens the cuticle of the hair shaft," says Sophie Bokinski, a cosmetologist at Image Makers Salon. "Humidity is moisture, when you have your hair styled and you go out into the rain obviously what ends up happening? The style comes undone. So moisture does affect the hair, it pops out and frizzes." There are products galore that curly-haired folks can put in their hair to help fight frizz. But Bokinski says regardless of which products you use, fight the frizz before the humidity gets to it, when your hair is still wet. There is a benefit from humidity. It keeps our skin moist and therefore the skins usually a lot softer this time of year. |
BACK TO NEWS | BACK TO REGIONAL STORIES
© 2009 KFYR-TV
Home | News | Weather | Sports | Webcast | Morning News | Programming | Primetime Rewind | Advertising & Sales | About Us
Community Connection | Movies | Contests & Promotions | Search | Links | Contact Us | Follow us on: Facebook and twitter
Sister Stations: KMOT in Minot, KQCD in Dickinson, KUMV in Williston
