Scientists find the temperature that makes you the friendliest

It's a finding that is destined to start a new round of arguments over the aircon remote.

The study found 22 degrees was the ideal average temperature to live in.

A new study covering more than 1.6 million people has revealed that 22 degrees is the perfect air temperature to live in.

A city with an average annual temperature closer to 22 tends to have a population who are more agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable and extroverted.

The study is observational, and does not show cause-and-effect. But the scientists behind it theorise that better weather leads people to leave the house more often, leading to more social interaction, which encourages a friendlier personality.

Read the story by Liam Mannix in today’s Melbourne Age - “Scientists find the temperature that makes you the friendliest.”

Renewables will give more people access to electricity than coal, says IEA

Around the world, more than a billion people still lack access to electricity.

This number is shrinking, down by one third since 2000, despite rising population levels, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) special report on energy access, published today.

The report says that while coal has supplied nearly half of the progress from 2000 to date, its role is set to decline “dramatically”. This is because renewables are becoming cheaper and because the hardest-to-reach people are in remote, rural areas where off-grid solutions offer the lowest cost.

The report shows the number of people without access to electricity will shrink by another third by 2030, with 60% of these gains supplied by renewables. Furthermore, if the world commits to providing universal access by 2030, then renewables would bridge 90% of the remaining gap, the IEA says.

Read the CarbonBrief story - “Renewables will give more people access to electricity than coal, says IEA.”