Free Nautical Charts

why is it that on a large land mass coastal regions are more temperate than central regions?

Public Comments

1. Water, and especially the ocean, is a huge reservoir of heat. This is because - water has a high specific heat. It takes more heat to raise the temperature of water by 1 degree than most other substances. - the oceans can distribute their heat by water movement so that a large volume of water can be close to the same temperature, which is not possible by land. - large scale ocean currents move water and heat around the globe equalizing temperatures. - water has a high latent heat of crystallization. When ice forms, it releases heat so the temperature remains close to the freezing point instead of dropping further. - water has a high latent heat of vaporization so that as the temperature rises, water tends to evaporate, which absorbs heat and keeps the temperature lower than it otherwise would be. Having such a large heat reservoir close by makes coastal regions more equable than inland areas which are far from large bodies of water.