galileo81

I have to go with John Cuthber on thermal conductivity and am offering my theory on this. I don't believe it can be explained by heat capacity alone because air has less than 1% water vapour - so the impact by itself would be difficult to detect. Dry air is comprised of oxygen and nitrogen which have no dipole, whereas water has a dipole. The human body is 80% water and the micro-climate in the lungs is highly humid as well as the skin surface. Dry air cannot "stick" to the surface because if I recall chemistry - non-polar molecules are insoluble in water but polar molecules dissolve in water. Dry air being comprised of symmetrical gases will therefore not stick to the skin or the lungs. But wet air will stick to the skin - this act of sticking results in substantially greater thermal conductivity. Probably several times as much. That's why people use words like "the damp gets into your bones" - as it tends to cling to the body.