Climate change has been an important issue to me since I learned about it in college over a decade ago, but I have to admit that I didn’t give the average rise in global temperatures much thought until about a year ago.

There has been much talk about reaching the “2 degree” rise in average global temperature, when the world reaches a climate change tipping point of no return, and then the “4 degree” rise in average global temperature, when all hell breaks loose.

These numbers just didn’t feel big and scary to me. And then one random day I realized… they’re in Celsius!

So in case I am not the only one, here are some average global temperature conversions to help out my fellow Americans:

• 1 degree Celsius = 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit
• 2 degrees Celsius = 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit
• 3 degrees Celsius = 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit
• 4 degrees Celsius = 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit

When the numbers are translated into the temperatures I grew up with, I feel the climate change issue on a deeper level. And I am a little embarrassed that it took me so long to figure it out.