someone is being wrong on the tv
Feb. 8th, 2023 12:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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!)
...
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!)
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Date: 2023-02-08 11:30 am (UTC)Also, great to see you!!!
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Date: 2023-02-09 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-08 04:24 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2023-02-09 01:59 am (UTC)But 50 C - yikes!
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.
Oh, I am totally using that, thanks! Much better than "if your lips start turning blue, get out of the water". (Although if your lips start turning blue, do get out of the water...)
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Date: 2023-02-09 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-08 04:51 pm (UTC)I also haven't seen or heard it called centigrade for decades.
(Hi!)
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Date: 2023-02-08 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 05:09 am (UTC)I love your icon, too!
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Date: 2023-02-09 02:33 am (UTC)And yeah, the "centigrade" was just weird all around - but the show is literally 20 years old, so at least it fits!
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Date: 2023-02-09 05:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-08 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 05:48 am (UTC)All of this is great support for "let's get you out of those wet things!", though. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
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Date: 2023-02-08 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 05:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 01:33 am (UTC)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.
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Date: 2023-02-09 05:09 am (UTC)Also, I'm cracking up at your example; when I was younger it wasn't unheard of for me to take a dip in the New England ocean on a hot May day, but then I went to the Caribbean on vacation and now I am ruined for life. Heh. Water should be warrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm.
Thanks!
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Date: 2023-02-09 02:54 am (UTC)A kayaker friend gave us a similar rule last summer; I think it was 120F, as
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.
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Date: 2023-02-09 06:00 am (UTC)Those are great mnemonics, and I am swiping them forthwith.
No kidding on the -40 C/F last week, ugh. Hope you guys stayed warm! We never lost power, thank god, and just kept the heat cranking nonstop. (It's so unfair, too - it was so freaking cold but not for long enough to kill off the ticks, which are going to be insane this year because so much of the winter has been warm. If I can't go out for more than 10 minutes without risking frostbite, ticks should keel over after so many hours!)
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Date: 2023-02-10 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 10:38 am (UTC)*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.)
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Date: 2023-02-10 01:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 05:33 am (UTC)(And Hi!)
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Date: 2023-02-09 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-09 05:13 pm (UTC)(hi!)