Environment

How ‘Corn Sweat’ Makes Hot Summer Days More Humid

It’s a real phenomenon, and it’s making the hot weather muggier in the American Midwest.
A cornfield in Dubuque, Iowa.Joshua Lott/Reuters

As hot, sticky weather descends on much of the country this weekend, some of the stickiness in Midwestern cities may be due to an unexpected phenomenon: “corn sweat.”

That’s right. Even if you’re in the middle of a concrete jungle, those millions of acres of corn (and other crops) in the country’s heartland are still shaping your weather in powerful—and uncomfortable—ways.