1. Coastal and Continental Temperature Ranges

2. Coastal Regions
Areas near a large body of water have a moderate temperature range (ie. There is a smaller difference between the winter and summer temperatures).
This is also called a marine or maritime climate

3. Coastal Regions
Coastal regions have a moderate climate because the nearby ocean has a high specific heat.
The ocean takes a long time to cool off after summer is over. The heat it gives off as it gets cooler keeps the adjacent land warmer.
The ocean also takes a long time to warm up in summer and the air over the shoreline is cooler

4. Coastal regions Therefore
Have warmer winters and cooler summers
The winters are not as cold and the summers are not as hot

5. Continental Regions
INLAND – away from the shore (ocean)

6. Continental Regions Continental regions have a harsher climate
Continental regions have a larger range of temperatures
Summers are hotter and winters are colder

7. Continental regions Land has a low specific heat THEREFORE:
Land heats up quickly and to a higher temperature – and it cools off rapidly too
There is a bigger range of temperatures between summer and winter

8. Deserts have a large range of daily temperatures
WHY ?

9. 1. The sand and rocks of the desert have a low specific heat and so get very hot quickly and very cold quickly
2. DESERTS ARE DRY
little or no water means no atmospheric moisture, therefore no evaporation and no clouds
No clouds means that insolation is not reflected back to space – it gets hotter and hotter, etc
At night there are no clouds to trap infra red ground reradiation so it gets very cold