True or False The specific heat capacity of water has an impact on the climates in coastal areas
2 answers
The high heat capacity of water keeps its temperature within a relatively narrow range, causing nearby coastal areas to also have a narrow daily and seasonal temperature range. In contrast, areas with similar weather conditions that are farther from the coast tend to have a much wider range of seasonal and daily temperatures.
As an aside, I lived for almost 60 years in the southern U.S. about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The humidity was high all of the time. In the 70% to 95% range. But we almost NEVER had temperatures over 100 F. I can tell you that a temperature of 95 F with a relative humidity of 95% was brutally uncomfortable; however, it takes a lot of energy to heat all of that water so it kept us cooler and capped the temperature at about 95 or 96 F. What happened when the temperature did rise above 100 F? If the humidity was still in the 90% range,it was more uncomfortable. When I first moved there I thought I would become acclimated to the high humidity. Not so. Never happened.