In the WBGT formula, which component has the largest weight?

• A. Wet-bulb temperature
• B. Globe temperature
• C. Dry-bulb air temperature
• D. Wind speed

Answer: (A)

The WBGT index is built to reflect how hot a person actually feels by blending three aspects: how hot the air is, how much radiant heat from the surroundings affects you, and how humidity influences your body's ability to cool by sweating. The wet-bulb temperature stands out because it captures the combined effect of temperature and humidity on evaporative cooling. Since sweating is the main way the body loses heat, humidity that limits evaporation has the biggest impact on thermal strain. In the standard outdoor WBGT formula, the wet-bulb term contributes about 0.7, while the globe (radiant heat) term contributes about 0.2 and the dry-bulb air temperature term about 0.1. Wind speed isn’t a separate factor in the final equation; its influence is largely embedded in how the wet-bulb and globe readings respond to airflow. So the wet-bulb component has the largest weight.