Acclimatizing to Cold

snow covered ground and trees

In this my first winter back in the US, after having spent about seven years in the warmer lands of the UK, I find myself shivering in the winter cold in a way that I did not when I used to live in Chicago.

Having grown up in one of the coldest places on earth (certainly figuratively, if not literally, what with Chicago’s propensity for 60° F changes in temperature in a single day), I used to laugh at the cold weather. At least until it dropped below -20°.

When the recent snow storm hit Philly, I was flabbergasted at how cold the weather felt to me. I wore layer, upon layer, upon layer and still shivered when I went outside.

Yet, when I went to Bermuda back in October, I did not struggle at all to adjust to the warmer weather.

Why does the human body forget its tolerance for cold weather?

2 comments

  1. And what a difference from person to person…I found Chicago to be too warm for much of the winter and dreamt of living someplace colder yet.

    SW Ohio certainly isn’t cutting it either…

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