Slate said...But even a perfectly functioning thermometer, if placed on a solid surface, is likely to deliver higher readings than one set up in an open, breezy area. In general, a solid object absorbs more heat than an equivalent volume of air and can rise to a higher temperature given the same amount of sunlight. An instrument placed on sand or concrete will absorb heat from that surface—obscuring (and inflating) the actual air temperature. So, depending on where it's sitting, a surface thermometer can be off by more than 10 degrees.

I say...I cant believe that you can sit in your office without ever stepping foot in Iraq and call our soldiers liers! When our kids are sitting in Iraq they are NOT sitting in an "OPEN, BREEZY AREA" they are sitting on the sand and YES probably absorbing the heat from that surface as well as the sun beating down on the tops of thier heads! My son who sat in that country for over a year said it was OVER 130 degrees on more than one occasion, AND MY SON DOES NOT LIE!!!!

"OPEN BREEZY AREA!!!!!! What wont slate say to backstab our soldiers???!!