The research shows that a one-degree temperature variation that took 11 millennia to occur since the end of the last major ice age has now been replicated in 150 years, since the early days of the Industrial Revolution.

WSJ: Earth Hotter Now Than Most of Past 11,000 Years

It's also worth chucking into the mix that the global average temperature variation between even the strongest El Nino event and the next ordinary year is a fraction of a degree Celsius - certainly less than the rise of about 0.6C that we've seen since the beginning of the study period, in 1950.

BBC: Warm, wet - and warring?

BizEE Software, a South Wales, U.K., company that develops software to help building managers assess their energy-fuel needs, publishes a measure called degree days for places around the world that highlights this variation in temperature.

WSJ: In the Forecast: New Ways to Measure the Temperature

An ideal one would keep the same rate regardless of variation in power supply, temperature, air pressure, magnetic fields, or any other disturbing influences.

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Those who can handle abrupt temperature changes can try the four room Nun Path, a variation of hot to cold with variations of humidity, a revival of a Roman regeneration treatment. (although only the most stalwart should attempt the Frigidarium.) And treatments span the globe, from hammam rituals to Thai and Ayurvedic.

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