Why Should The Us Adopt The Metric System

If you walk into any United States store, pick up an item, and examine at its label, you’re likely to find the Imperial unit measurements listed as inches, feet, ounces and so on. But have you ever stopped to look at the Metric unit measurements? Other countries commonly use the Metric System, and it is time that we too, the United States adopt this method of measuring. As someone who prefers the Metric system and understands how to use it, I feel that I have some qualifications to discuss why people in the U.S need to adopt the Metric System. Although personal Metric usage in our lives is currently rare, this change would provide a simpler and better society for all people living in America. In a moment, we will understand the problems with

With the Imperial System, measurement confusion and communication barriers create problems among countries. Around the world, all countries except three, have adopted the Metric system, otherwise known as the International System of Units. The United States is one of the three countries who has yet to adopt this idea. Outside of most professional settings such as in science and trade, majority of the American population continues to prefer the Imperial measurement system. There is a push to get America on board with Metric so that there’s no longer a barrier between us and other countries. As explained in a September 2011 article of Teaching Science: The Journal of the Australian Science Teachers Association, many consumer foods, such as cans and packaged baking mixes, there’s dual-labeling- Imperial units as well as SI units. Until there’s worldwide agreement and a universal adoption of one system, we need to rely on conversion tables that help translate one system to another. The process of converting imperial units to metric is troublesome and can be confusing for us. Often schools inside of America requires students to only acknowledge the existence metric units. But the point in having the SI units is to ensure that the world does have that one common ’language’. For numerous trades and scientific purposes in the United States, applying Metric measurements is becoming the norm. Yet, a

Such causes for opposing the Metric System include the high expense for businesses to convert and how people favor familiarity. In 1975 Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, the first attempt to switch the United States measurement system. However, people and businesses largely resisted. By 1991 President George Bush altered the act requiring that businesses and government agencies use Metric. Today not all business or government agencies use the Metric System due to the high expenses to fully convert. For instance, a 2009 issue of New Scientist discusses how the National Aeronautics and Space Agency still uses the imperial system. Their reason being that keeping both measurements has led to accidents: in 1999, a mix-up between Imperial and Metric units cause NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter to crash. NASA says that the 370-million-dollar cost to convert is too high. Other expenses for our nation would include new highway signs, replacing measurement instruments, and thermostats. Not everyone knows how to use the Metric System, so the idea of converting lures them away. To illustrate, a 1996 Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice says, to imagine that 20 degrees Celsius as a comfortable temperature or considering 70 kilograms being an ideal weight of a typical American adult may be difficult. We’re taught to use Imperial units