> average temperature It's not the average temperature change that is significant, its the effect of the temperature that is significant. For example, 33F vs 3

> average temperature It's not the average temperature change that is significant, its the effect of the temperature that is significant. For example, 33F vs 32F is very significant... If there are more days above freezing, which leads to extra ice melt, it doesn't matter if the average is up only a tiny bit.