Room Temperature

In Guam I've come to a new appreciation of the relative term "room temperature." My lab interpretation of this number is somewhere between 22-25 ˚ C (that's 77 ˚ F max). This is likely because the dead white science guys who established "standard" conditions conventions hundreds of years ago (in addition to other things my students complain about every year) were living in Europe where the average temperature was in the 70s as a high during the summer and what they might strive to attain during cold winters. I am spoiled at Bentley myself (I just recently learned the appropriate grammar usage of the word "myself"), and don't typically teach in more than 70 ˚ F since I am master of my own climate, and don't pay the power bill.

This is my first return to the "tropics" (technically anywhere between 22.45 ˚ N and 22.45 ˚ S latitude) since my Hawaiian vacation 10 years ago. Guam is about 13.5 ˚ N latitude. While some of you live in what might be considered a more tropical climate in FL and TX, you're well above the Tropic of Cancer. I wonder what your room temperature is?

Energy is crazy expensive here, as is most everything. The electricity bill for our three floor townhouse has ranged from $900-$1400 over the last three months as my housemates have struggled to adjust to the climate while not bankrupting themselves. Our house is currently set at an amazingly livable 81 ˚ F for most of the day while I'm the only one home. My housemates have made a two degree accommodation for me from the 83 ˚ F they've had it at for some time. We all get to enjoy 79 ˚ F in the evenings. Price-wise, it probably doesn't help that there are at least 200 lights in the place. No joke. I counted them. Sixty in the kitchen, eighty in the TV room. I've made it my mission to leave no unused light on while I'm here.

The saddest thing about the energy situation is this:


I saw this power station near a snorkeling spot a few days ago. While I did not take this photo myself (ha!), the billowing brown smoke/gas was very real and made me a bit worried about the air I was breathing through the little tube in my mouth. It also reminded me of the potential fate of the coral reefs in the area. If you haven't heard about the problem of ocean acidification yet, I'd invite you to watch this video narrated by Sigourney Weaver. It's 20 minutes of some great images and good science.

Maybe we can all turn up our room temperatures this summer to save the planet a bit.