CHILL OF THE WIND IN THE WOODS

In the cold month of March during my time in the woods, there were days when the wind felt the need to blow me around and make me feel colder than I already was. The first question that came to mind was, why does the wind make me feel colder? Once I started digging around for information, I found that I needed to broaden what I was researching and include how the body regulates heat, so that I could gain a deeper understanding of wind chill. 

Body regulation to cold temperatures:  

If the blood flowing through the brain is not the correct temperature, then the hypothalamus section of the brain, which contains sensitive receptors to regulates body temperature, sends nerve impulses to the blood vessels, sweat glands and muscles to raise or lower the temperature of the body. 

Diagram: Factors that are involved when regulating body temperature. 

Table: Linking to the diagram.

Chill of the wind:

The human body loses heat through convection, which is heat energy, from the human body in this instance, transferred to moving gases or liquids that are colder.  

On a non-windy day the air that is acting as an insulator is able to warm the body. However, on a windy day and depending on how strong the wind is, the wind hits our skin and takes the trapped air away from the skin, causing the skin to cool to about the temperature of the air.  

There are factors that effect how cold we feel when it is windy:  

• The stronger the wind, the faster our skin will feel colder. 
• The lower the humidity, the more evaporation, so the skin will feel colder.  
• The wind temperature will be colder than the air temperature if the wind blows from a north-easterly directions into the UK, causing our skin to feel colder. 

References: 

http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/modules/homeostasis_sugar/sugar6.cfm?coSiteNavigation_allTopic=1 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21744543

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa_pre_2011/energy/heatrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway_pre_2011/ourselves/5_staying_in_balance2.shtml 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feeds/31013287

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/wind/wind-chill-factor