A method includes identifying a microelectronic device located at an air bearing surface and a resistive heating element, said resistive heating element electrically isolated from the microelectronic device. The method further includes applying a bias current through the resistive heating element to generate localized heat and heating the microelectronic device by the localized heat. In an aspect, the method further includes identifying a predetermined humidity threshold, identifying a separation distance between the microelectronic device and the resistive heating element in at least one dimension, determining an effective temperature for which relative humidity at that region of the air bearing surface where the microelectronic device is located is reduced below the predetermined humidity threshold, and adjusting the bias current such that the microelectronic device is heated at least to the effective temperature.