Many confused about two degree limit, preferring the warmth to the cold

T

he idea of what is and isn’t a safe temperature for humans is confusing for most people who prefer the warmth rather than the cold.



PhD candidate, Australian
German Climate and Energy
 College at University of
Melbourne, Kate Dooley.

Talking recently with a friend about a particularly hot day he said, “Bring it on, I love it!”

Therein is the difficulty as most people make judgements on the basis of “now” and their historical experience of the weather and not connect what’s happening to the climate.

And so while many people are openly comfortable about a two degree increase, few understand what it means in the broader picture of a seriously disrupted climate that will equally seriously disrupt their lives.



Associate Professor
at University of Melbourne,
Peter Christoff.

To tell them that what they see as a marginal change in temperatures could unsettle much of their life is met with wonderment and quizzical thoughts about your sanity.

Associate Professor at University of Melbourne, Peter Christoff, and a PhD candidate, Australian German Climate and Energy College at University of Melbourne, Kate Dooley, have written about the two degree discussion on The Conversation.

Their story - “A matter of degrees: why 2C warming is officially unsafe” – argues for a tougher 1.5C warming limit in the new climate agreement expected in Paris in December this year.