this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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Why do people use football fields and swimming pools as units of measurement.
I can mentally picture an Olympic swimming pool, that's why.
I need to get better at editing myself.
How much is that in giraffes?
Roughly 1651 girraffes, assuming an olympic swimming pool is 2.5 million litres.
I assume it’s to help people visualize volume/distance/size/etc. If an article said “50,000 gallons”, it would be much more precise, but also harder to relate to. When an article says “500 Olympic-sized pools”, it’s significantly easier to picture in my mind.
It’s also worth remembering that this is a newspaper intended for the casual edification of the general public, not a scientific document.