Sunshine and Saharan Dust Make Miami's World Cup Quarter-Final a Dangerous Game for England Norway

England and Norway players will face off under extreme and dangerous levels of heat stress, scientists say, thanks to a Wet Bulb Index of nearly 90 F. For Norway's national men's soccer team, Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against England will be a first in more ways than one. As the Scandinavian side prepares for the biggest match of its history, it will also face conditions almost unimaginable back home: the punishing combination of South Florida heat, humidity, and blazing sunshine that scientists warn can push the human body to its limits. South Florida's mix of strong sun, hot-air temperature, and high humidity--boosted by a plume of dusty air from the Sahara desert sweeping across the Atlantic through the state--will put the northern European players under a level of heat stress rarely experienced in their native countries. Scientists quantify this heat stress by calculating the WetBulb Globe Temperature. On top of air temperature, the index takes into account humidity, which limits evaporation of sweat from the skin; wind, which can act as a coolant; and solar intensity, as sunshine directly raises individuals' skin and core temperatures.