ST. LOUIS — After a scorching weekend with heat index values around 110° in some areas, you might be surprised where some of the humidity comes from.
Have you heard of corn sweat? On these hot summer days, corn fields do play a role in how hot it feels.
No, the corn doesn't actually sweat, but it does put an incredible amount of moisture into the air.
It's called transpiration, part of Earth's water cycle. Plants draw water through their roots into their stems and leaves and release that water into the air as water vapor.
Did you know a corn stalks roots can be more than five feet deep? You can't see the process, but you feel its effects as it increases the humidity.
An acre of corn gives off about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water each day. With over 13 million acres of cornfields in Illinois and Missouri, that's potentially more than 52 billion gallons of water released into the atmosphere each day. Not only can that make it feel more uncomfortable, all that moisture can also help fuel thunderstorms across our region.
All plants put water back into the air, but this time of year, corn plays a role in just how uncomfortable we feel.
