As residents in New South Wales emerge from under the rug after their coldest day in 21 years, the question on the blue lips of many is what’s the best way to stay warm?
While many may feel their insides are rapidly chilling, Dr Ollie Jay from the University of Sydney said little was happening to our bodies internally and the cold was all due to “perception”.
“I used to live in Canada, so [New South Wales] is not that cold,” he said.
“Not much is happening inside … we have thermo-sensors embedded in our skins; there are hot sensors and cold sensors.
“When your skin temperatures drop below a certain level, that’s what gives us the sensation of cold.”
Dr Jay, the director of the university’s Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, said people rarely get to the stage of coldness in which their core body temperatures dropped below the normal 37 degrees.
If it does, we start to shiver as the body generates heat to balance our internal temperature with the cold outside.
While the elderly and those with respiratory problems may struggle with the cold, Dr Jay said it was unlikely anyone would suffer from hypothermia.
“The only health impact on regular healthy people is the cold impacts your daily physical activity,” he said.
“It’s about your level of preparedness; using behavioural strategies.”
Here are some tips from Dr Jay and 702 ABC Sydney listeners about the best way to stay warm this winter:
Layering is key
While this might be an obvious tip, Dr Jay said layering your clothes worked the best.
Top Comments
I live in a cold climate and the first year I was here I nearly froze to death despite wearing what I thought were enough clothes. Turns out I was missing the essential layer - singlet/body-hugging underwear to trap the heat next to my body. No amount of looser fitting t-shirts, jumpers or coats can make up for that one simple layer. Oh, and jeans are not warm. Ever.
But jeans with your gym leggings under are toasty ;-)
Haha! Yep!
We had the coldest day in, oh,two years (-8C when I got up, tap frozen in milking shed). What a lot of fuss about nothing. Are people really so cossetted and out of touch with the world they live in? This is a bona fide part of the environment and I thought 'the environment' was something everyone revered and wanted more contact with. Stop thinking about it, keep moving and adapt your life accordingly.
And wait til summer...2 days over 38 and it makes the front page of the Herald-Sun! Living in Northern Victoria one summer, we had 7 days of 40+ and our cool change was 35. Ring friends in Melbourne..."it's so hot here and the cool change (of 19 degrees!) is taking forever!" Melburnians are sooks and obsessed with weather!