On Wednesday, January 18, 2017 at 4:56:18 PM UTC-5, Norman Lynagh wrote:
Adam Lea wrote:


If you disable your pedant switch and act like a human instead of Mr Spock,
it is clear that they are referring to the Celsius scale so double the
average means the average is 6C. No it is not scientifically correct but
since the Kelvin scale is not used amongst the general public, people will
know what the statement is trying to say.

Communicating with the general public, especially through online media, is
not like speaking at a scientific conference or publishing a scientific paper
in a high quality journal.

Using the same line of thinking, I wonder what double -3C would be? :-)

========

Indeed, Norman. Similarly, what if the average happened to be zero deg C? And I can only speculate what zero degrees Celsius might be twice as warm as.

Moreover, if the average is, say, 1 deg C and you get to 2 deg C... well, you're again "twice the average"! Incredibly mild!

You're absolutely right to point out the original idiocy.


Stephen
Indianapolis IN