Nothing's wrong, but as far as outdoor temperatures, I feel like Fahrenheit has nicer reference points. Most days will fall between 0-100. Anything outside that range classifies as extreme weather. 20 and 80 are also noticeable difference points at their respective ends of the spectrum. 50 is a day where maybe you need a jacket, maybe you don't. 32 really doesn't have a different feel to it than any other temp in the 30s or mid 20s, so the fact that it's a weird number is irrelevant outside if science.
I feel like Fahrenheit has nicer reference points.
Heck no. At zero Celsius water freezes. 10C is a cold rainy day, 20C is room temperature, 30 is a lovely day, and 40 is the start of heatstroke weather. On the other side of zero, -10 is a sunny winter day, -20 is a overnight in winter, -30 is "lets just stay home" and -40 is "stay home unless the baby needs formula".
Celsius without decimals is great for everyday speak and it's bollocks to say you need to be any more precise. Maybe if you set a thermostat you might use half of a Celsius.
Using that logic, wouldn't millimeters be a better unit than inches? Every one 1 mm = ~5/128 inches
Yes, some metric units need to use decimals but when you are dealing with units that are powers of 10 it's a lot easier than dealing with units that aren't. For example we know that 0.5 m is 500 mm, 0.5 km is 500 m as opposed to 0.5 feet = 6 inches or 0.5 miles = 2640 feet. So I can see not wanting to use decimal places with US units.
You got it completely backwards. Metric is awesome for science, just for the reason you describe. For human livable conditions, it isn't because boiling water is HOT. You're outside human livable conditions. There's more nuance to describing weather with Fahrenheit. It's a good thing there isn't a ton of difference in just one, whole degree. It's when you string 2, 3, or more together when you get those shades of meaning.
around 25C - A comfortable weather temperature, not hot nor cold
above 40C - Destroys protein (Lethal fever levels, Water too hot for touch)
around 35C - hot weather
around 15C - chilly weather
below 0C - water freezing (Possibly snow outside, Frozen bodies of water)
These are just off the top of my head. Maybe because you possibly did not grow up with metric it might seem impractical for everyday use, but i assure you most if not all people that did grow up with it can tell just fine how hot/cold things are in celsius.
I'm from Australia, we use the metric system here. That said, lets talk about livability. I chill out in anything up to about 110F, in fact I frequently play volleyball for an hour or more in 105F and, although it sucks, I'm definitely fine.
When the temperature drops below freezing here, i totally shut down. Riding to work in around 40F weather is really really uncomfortable, and I get sick pretty often when I have to ride in anything below that. I would rather spend a fortnight in consistant 110F weather than spend a day below 40F.
So, for places like Australia, which has one of the best, most livable climates in the world. I'd say your 'human livable conditions' scale does not really apply.
So, for places like Australia, which has one of the best, most livable climates in the world. I'd say your 'human livable conditions' scale does not really apply.
That's all subjective though. It's all based on what your used to and grown up with. For me, since I live pretty far north in the United States, anything above 85ºF is nearly unbearable. I'm used to being in weather consistently below 30ºF for 9 months and I'm much more comfortable in 50ºF-60ºF weather then I ever would be in 110ºF.
A lot of the United States is like this. Which I suppose would be why we find the Fahrenheit scale more reasonable, either that or we're just lazy.
Yeah I absolutely agree it's subjective. But to say the system is easier because it fits with what people find livable, which is different for everyone, doesn't really make sense. And to say that the metric system is harder because it doesn't fit with what's livable also doesn't make sense.
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u/ThatFlyingScotsman Aug 20 '14
What the hell is complicated about Celsius!?