Download!Download Point responsive WP Theme for FREE!

Google News Snubs Celsius

Load Google News in the US. See that the weather thing on the right in Fahrenheit? There’s no way to fix that.

By fixing, I mean to change the unit. Celsius is the Cadillac of temperatures. It’s so pure: 0 °C means freezing, 100 °C means the water boils at sea level. Simple, practical, like the rest of the metric system.

Meanwhile, Fahrenheit’s water melting point is 31.9998 °F, boiling point 211.971 °F.

What the hell is that? Daniel Fahrenheit pinned 0 °F as the zero point of Fahrenheit because he thought it’s the freezing point of brine, but brine is defined as having salt concentrations ranging from 3.5% to 26%, yielding a 36 °F freezing point range.

So that is not helpful. What is it? It’s poppycock. Yes, I said poppycock.

Further, Danny set the 100 °F point to reflect the average human body temperature. I guess on the big day of pinning the 100 °F end of the scale Danny had a fever. Whoops.

Perhaps because it’s a stupid temperature scale, only 4.5% of the world’s population uses Fahrenheit. The Brits managed to make the switch to Celsius in 1962, it’s a doable thing for a nation, so it’s high time we join the club.

Listen, Google News: Not letting me glance at the temperature in Celsius is unhelpful in making the world a better place. I understand that limiting user options is usually better UX, but you crossed the line with Celsius. What happened to Do No Evil?

Well I guess I could rent a VPN in Ireland to get Celsius on Google News…

Doug Simmons