Answer to Question #142279 in Physical geography for Javier

Question

Can you explain why places by the coast have cooler temperatures but places located inland far away from the sea have hotter temperatures?

Answer 1

The water as a substance has high specific heat. In other words, you need a lot of heat to change temperature of water by 1°C. The sand and rocks have smaller specific heat, which means that less thermal energy (heat) is required to change their temperature by 1°C. Thus, since both mentioned places receive equal amount of solar radiation, areas by coasts have smaller average temperatures than areas far away from seas and oceans.