arduinna: a tarot-card version of Linus from Peanuts, carrying a lamp as The Hermit (Default)
[personal profile] arduinna
I am idly watching an old documentary show that involves some people who had to ditch into the North Sea, and the narrator has just earnestly and intently explained that "for a person in the water, hypothermia can begin when the temperatures of air and water added together is below 50 degrees Centigrade."

...

This is not an American show, and the narrator is definitely not American. So you would think he would have noticed how nonsensical that is.

(He does go on to say, quite accurately, that in the North Sea in winter, the temperature is far below that. I would be willing to go even further and say that the temperature of the North Sea is far below 122F even in the hottest days of summer.)

(hi!)

Date: 2023-02-08 11:30 am (UTC)
princessofgeeks: (Default)
From: [personal profile] princessofgeeks
The stupid!

Also, great to see you!!!

Date: 2023-02-08 04:24 pm (UTC)
ratcreature: RatCreature is confused: huh? (huh?)
From: [personal profile] ratcreature
The North Sea near the coasts is around 4°C right now, but in warm winters it can get warmer, and in summer it reaching around 18°C (so around 64°F?) is fairly normal, sometimes 20°C even. But 20°C water still doesn't feel warm, and I assume you can get hypothermia if you stay in for a long time or something and aren't trained in cold water swimming?

I mean, obviously psome eople swim in very cold water and people can train to withstand stuff to some degree, but for bathing in the sea as a normal person, I've been told the rule of thumb that without protective gear you can stay only as many minutes as the water is in Celsius, or you'll get too cold, even if the water is at summer temperatures.

Date: 2023-02-09 08:34 am (UTC)
ratcreature: Heh. RatCreature is amused. (heh.)
From: [personal profile] ratcreature
With blue lips they stayed Fahrenheit water temperature minutes long...

Date: 2023-02-08 04:51 pm (UTC)
klia: (b & a)
From: [personal profile] klia
I've never been able to convert celsius to fahrenheit in my head, but always remember the lyrics in Beds Are Burning, "The the western desert lives and breathes in 45 degrees," so even I'd know that was... nonsensical. Mistakes like that make you go hmmm about the whole production.

I also haven't seen or heard it called centigrade for decades.

(Hi!)

Date: 2023-02-08 07:56 pm (UTC)
dorinda: A black-and-white portrait of a little girl that gradually shifts to look demonic. (demongirl_animated)
From: [personal profile] dorinda
Just had to say HI to your icon! <3____<3

Date: 2023-02-09 05:09 am (UTC)
klia: (Default)
From: [personal profile] klia
I love and miss those two, and am still sad our vid kind of fell off a cliff. ;__;

I love your icon, too!
Edited Date: 2023-02-09 05:09 am (UTC)

Date: 2023-02-09 05:21 am (UTC)
klia: (Default)
From: [personal profile] klia
As a kid, I swam in Lake Michigan (in a 2-pc bathing suit) quite a bit, and it's pretty much always cold, and the lakefront chilly, so I guess I should consider myself lucky I never got hypothermic?

Date: 2023-02-08 07:56 pm (UTC)
dorinda: A little clam made of pink and grey yarn, peeking out of its shell with googly eyes. (clam_cute)
From: [personal profile] dorinda
Toasty!! Hypothermia obviously begins the moment you step into the hot tub.

Date: 2023-02-08 10:32 pm (UTC)
marthawells: Murderbot with helmet (Default)
From: [personal profile] marthawells
Hi!!

Date: 2023-02-09 01:33 am (UTC)
sholio: sun on winter trees (Default)
From: [personal profile] sholio
Hi!! :D

This actually is not wrong, it sounds like it's the Celsius equivalent of the 120 degree rule - if water temp + air temp is 120 degrees or less, you are at risk of hypothermia if you swim without a wetsuit. It's not so much a rule per se as a reminder that you can get hypothermic at *much* warmer temperatures than most people realize because water robs you of body heat so fast. So, say, if the water is 40 degrees and the air is 70 degrees, this adds up to 110 degrees and is unsafe even if the air feels warm enough to go swimming.

Date: 2023-02-09 02:54 am (UTC)
the_shoshanna: my boy kitty (Default)
From: [personal profile] the_shoshanna
Hi hi!

A kayaker friend gave us a similar rule last summer; I think it was 120F, as [personal profile] sholio says, but I can't remember for sure.

The C/F conversion mnemonics I use all the time are 16C = 61F and 28C = 82F (memorable because they're mirror images) and 22C= 72F (memorable because they both end in 2). Also -40C = -40F, memorable because it's horrifying, and also it was relevant last week, aiee.

Date: 2023-02-10 01:24 am (UTC)
the_shoshanna: my boy kitty (Default)
From: [personal profile] the_shoshanna
Ticks have absolutely no right to be so damn indestructible! We stayed cozy even though we were out and about looking at houses -- the incredibly skanky motel we were staying in lost power momentarily several times, and our hybrid car put a warning up that Something Ominously Unspecified Was Wrong, but the next day, after sitting a while in the sun, it was fine again. Glad you were able to stay warm!

Date: 2023-02-09 10:38 am (UTC)
sholio: sun on winter trees (Default)
From: [personal profile] sholio
Also -40C = -40F, memorable because it's horrifying, and also it was relevant last week.

*cries in Alaska*

(Although I don't think we've actually had -40 this year at all, in any temperature measurement; what is climate change even.)

Date: 2023-02-10 01:24 am (UTC)
the_shoshanna: the canadian flag (canadian flag)
From: [personal profile] the_shoshanna
I would send you all our extreme cold if I could!

Date: 2023-02-09 05:33 am (UTC)
thevetia: (Default)
From: [personal profile] thevetia
One can get hypothermia in 80F+ degree water if you stay in it long enough, wetsuit notwithstanding. (Don't ask how I know.) The ocean is a Great Big Heat Sink, and you are a very small heat source.

(And Hi!)

Date: 2023-02-09 11:07 am (UTC)
dorinda: From HIStory3:Trapped, Meng Shaofei behind Tang Yi with his chin on Tang Yi's shoulder, Tang Yi turning his head toward him; text at the bottom reading 永远 (yǒngyuǎn), which means "always" or "forever". (h3t:forever)
From: [personal profile] dorinda
Well now I simply LONG to ask how you know!

Date: 2023-02-09 05:13 pm (UTC)
kass: Geoffrey facepalms (geoffrey)
From: [personal profile] kass
fhalskjdfhdaskljfhalsdjkf

(hi!)
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