Why do desert people wear robes

We have therefore investigated whether black robes help the Bedouins to minimise solar heat loads in a hot desert. This seemed possible because experiments have shown that white hair on cattle 1,2 and white feathers on pigeons 3 permit greater penetration of short-wave radiation to the skin than black. We report here that the amount of heat gained by a Bedouin exposed to the hot desert is the same whether he wears a black or a white robe.

The additional heat absorbed by the black robe was lost before it reached the skin. Hutchinson, J. Cena, K. Google Scholar. Walsberg, G. Article Google Scholar. Finch, V. Swinbank, W. Dubois, D. Belding, H. CAS Google Scholar. Breckenridge, J. Fedn Prod. Download references. Amiram Shkolnik, C. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar.

Reprints and Permissions. If the fabric was to absorb more heat from the sun, it would make the wearer much hotter. By using white, people are able to keep cooler.

This raises the question of why burqas are usually black. I would think that if it makes more sense for men to dress in white, it would also make more sense for women to do so as well. However, in that culture, men are more likely to be outdoors while the women are usually in the home.

The burqa is only worn as an outer-garment over other clothing when it is necessary to leave the home. While few of us are likely to end up lost in the Sahara Desert, there are other deserts here in the United States — most notably the Mojave Desert in the Southwestern part of the country. Anyone who travels in this part of the country has the potential to end up stranded if their car breaks down. If those people happened to have heavy coats with them, they could put them on as protection from the heat.

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