CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 783Thermoregulation and physiological responsesEffects of Environmental Stressors on LivestockClimate Change and Health Impacts

Wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT)—its history and its limitations

Budd, Grahame M.·2008·Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
DOI 10.1016/j.jsams.2007.07.003
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is nowadays the most widely used index of heat stress, yet many users appear to be unaware of its history and its limitations. HISTORY OF WBGT: WBGT was invented and first used during the 1950s as one element in a successful campaign to control serious outbreaks of heat illness in training camps of the United States Army and Marine Corps. Control measures based on air temperature and humidity, and applied to all trainees alike, had proved effective but had entailed excessive compliance costs in the form of lost training time. New control measures introduced in 1956 further reduced heat illness and also lost fewer training hours. Crucial innovations were (1) replacing the temperature and humidity measurements with WBGT, which additionally responds to sun and wind, (2) using epidemiologic analyses of casualty records to identify hazardous levels of WBGT and vulnerable trainees, and (3) protecting the most vulnerable trainees by suspending drill at lower levels of WBGT, and by improving their heat tolerance in special conditioning platoons. This campaign has considerable relevance to the prevention of heat illness in sport. LIMITATIONS OF WBGT: WBGT's most serious limitation is that environments at a given level of the index are more stressful when the evaporation of sweat is restricted (by high humidity or low air movement) than when evaporation is free. As with all indices that integrate elements of the thermal environment, interpretation of the observed levels of WBGT requires careful evaluation of people's activity, clothing, and many other factors, all of which can introduce large errors into any predictions of adverse effects. Moreover, the accuracy of WBGT is being eroded by measurement errors associated with the omission of the globe temperature, with non-standard instrumentation, and with unsatisfactory calibration procedures. Because of the above limitations WBGT can provide only a general guide to the likelihood of adverse effects of heat. A much clearer assessment can be obtained by measuring the individual elements of the thermal environment, and using those measurements to estimate the requirement for evaporative cooling, the likelihood of achieving it, and more accurate and comprehensive indices of heat stress.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jsams.2007.07.003

Cites

48 of 48 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • WBGT has several documented deficiencies related in part to overestimation and lower correlations between WBGT and performance/health consequences.

    “Third, the WBGT has several documented deficiencies (e.g. Budd 2008; Thorsson et al. 2021). The deficiencies are related in part to overestimation and lower correlations between WBGT and performance/health consequences.”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Budd 2008

  • Clothing can counteract health and safety risks from WBGT.

    “We acknowledge the WBGT has its limitations such as (1) clothing can counteract health and safety risks”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Budd 2008

  • Other indices have proven slightly more predictive of heat illness than WBGT.

    “(3) other indices have proven slightly more predictive of heat illness (Budd 2008; National Weather Service 2023; Thorsson et al.2021).”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Budd 2008

  • WBGT measurements are taken in direct sunlight.

    “(2) WBGT measurements are taken in direct sunlight”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Budd 2008

  • The WBGT remains the most widely adapted measure of thermal stress risk.

    “The WBGT remains the most widely adapted measure of thermal stress risk (e.g. Budd 2008).”

    From Forecasting thermal stress for sports tourists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (2024) · cites this paper as Budd 2008

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Budd, G. M.
Affiliations
The University of Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Budd, Grahame M.
Venue
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-01
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
20-32
ISSN
1440-2440 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jsams.2007.07.003
OpenAlex
W2079007494
Cited by
783
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 111 · 2025: 78 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 13
FWCI
4.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of science and medicine in sport (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Climate Change and Health Impacts
Keywords
wet bulb globe temperature, heat stress, heat illness prevention, military training camps, sweat evaporation, thermal environment, heat stress indices
MeSH terms
Body Temperature Regulation, Calibration, History, Humans, Humidity, Military Personnel, Research Design, Temperature, Heat Stress Disorders, History, 20th Century

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review