someone is being wrong on the tv

[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!)

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

The stupid!

Also, great to see you!!!

[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.

[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!)

[dorinda]

Toasty!! Hypothermia obviously begins the moment you step into the hot tub.

[marthawells]

Hi!!

[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.

[the_shoshanna]

Hi hi!

A kayaker friend gave us a similar rule last summer; I think it was 120F, as 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.

[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!)

[kass]

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(hi!)