• morhp@lemmy.wtf
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      1 year ago

      0°C is completely fine with jeans and a thick jacket, especially when it’s sunny and there isn’t much wind. It’s cold, but there’s probably not much ice or snow, if anything, probably mostly slush.

      Compared to say -20 C where you should have a good ski jacket and ski pants, warm shoes and socks, generally multiple layers everywhere, winter gloves and so on.

    • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The temperature that water freezes at is only fairly cold weather by a lot of people’s perception.
      I’d call it “chilly”. No jacket for running to the mailbox, or if I’ll be outside for half an hour or so. Light jacket otherwise. I don’t expect it to snow, since it’s not actually cold enough usually, and there won’t be ice on the ground unless it’s just warmed up.

      So it might be “freezing”, but that doesn’t make it cold.

      • gazter@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        It’s almost like being ‘fairly cold for humans’ is a wide range, and subjective, therefore useless as a baseline.

        • Smatt@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Well I’d say that’s why op chose the adverb “fairly”, it gets across that it’s a wide range and lacks specificity.

          Not completely useless as a baseline, but fairly general.

          • gazter@aussie.zone
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            1 year ago

            Obviously the freezing point of water is also a range (depending on purity, altitude, etc) but would you say it’s less, or more specific?

            • Smatt@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              Compared with the human experience of “cold”? More specific, even when talking about ocean water and water on mountains or whatever altitude water you’re talking about.

        • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          True, but that’s also not super relevant to the merits of a temperature scale. Fahrenheit isn’t actually based off of human subjective temperature perception, it just coincidentally lines up a bit closer with the comfortable range for people in northern temperate climates.

          Before it’s redefinition in terms of Celsius, fahrenheit was defined by a particular temperature stable brine solution (easy to replicate for calibration), and with the freezing and boiling points of water set to be 180 degrees apart, because of the relationship with a circle.

          People decided we liked base10 adherence more than trigonometry, and then everyone adopted Celsius, so we should use Celsius. Doesn’t make fahrenheit some sort of random scale, just deprecated.

          • yata@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            The most common defence of Fahrenheit are Americans saying it is the most suited for humans because 0 is “very cold” and 100 “very hot”. That is why people are referencing it with regards to the merits of a temperature scale in this thread.

            • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Oh, I know. I was just agreeing that it would be a crap way to design a system, but that doesn’t also mean that it’s not reasonable for a lot of people to feel like it fits better.

              It’s design is as specific as Celsius and it’s only coincidentally lines up with northern temperate.
              Preferring 10 degree temperature intervals to 5 degree intervals is a silly reason to give up compatibility, but people have their preferences.

              It’s not like we don’t teach metric in schools, or label everything in metric.

    • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Many places in the US, particularly in the East and Midwest, experience average temperatures at or below freezing (32°F) in the winter, so while it’s definitely cold, it’s often not considered really cold. It’s not until you move further towards 0 and the negatives that most people in that area feel really cold (like weather advisory levels). Of course the further north you go, the more normal those temps are. Likewise, it’s definitely not unheard of for temps to hit 100°F (37°C) in the Southwest, but it would be considered pretty hot for much of the country, and even Texas suffers at sustained temps like that.

      • joeyb4589@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Freezing temps here are definitely considered very cold. Cold enough that you need multiple layers and you should be wrapping your pipes to prevent freezing. It’s very humid here. Our freezing is insanely cold. Like chills you to your bones cold. Our hot here is insanely hot as well.

        • Adlach@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          I dunno, man. I usually only wear a sweatshirt when it’s 32. You get used to the cold fast.

          There was an article recently that said the researchers in Antarctica were wearing shorts because it was so warm (14F).

        • can@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          I knew someone would say this. We don’t freeze solid at 0 Celsius however.

          • One_numb_bum@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Only pure water freezes at 0C. And human bodies aren’t going to reach 0C while alive. What point is it you’re trying to make with your statement that we don’t freeze solid at 0C?