you can do what you want but it doesn't make it meaningful

It's not more meaningful in Kelvin. 1 to 4 is a 300% increase and so is 200 to 800. So hearing 300% tells you absolutely nothing, without the added context of "from the previous average temperature of the region".

My point is that a 4% increase in numbers on a scale where zero does not equate tot he total absence is not actually 4% hotter.

Yes, it is. Percentages don't mean anything in temperature unless it is Kelvin where 0 is truly 0.

1 to 4 degrees Celsius is not a 300% increase in anything but the integer representing temp. Try that in Fahrenheit or with a negative value.

Edit: I think I initially missed your point that percentages are kind of silly to use anyway.

> Percentages don’t mean anything in temperature unless it is Kelvin where 0 is truly 0.

Well, technically any absolute scale: Kelvin is the most common, but Rankine has the same feature. (It just uses Fahrenheit-sized degrees instead of Celsius-sized.)

I wondered if there might be others but left it up to you to correct me. :)