In spring a person’s thoughts turn to important matters,
like how best to keep your drink cold on a hot day. Though this quest is
probably as old as civilization, University of Washington climate scientists
have provided new insight.
It turns out that in sultry weather condensation on the
outside of a canned beverage doesn’t just make it slippery: those drops can
provide more heat than the surrounding air, meaning your drink would warm more
than twice as much in humid weather compared to in dry heat. In typical summer
weather in New Orleans, heat released by condensation warms the drink by 6
degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes.