Water has a specific heat capacity of 1.0 calorie/°C. This means it takes 1 calorie of energy to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1°C. Although this might seem little, most materials require much less energy to raise their temperatures by the same amount. For example, the specific heat capacity for the rocks that make up the continents ranges from 0.17 to 0.26 cal/°C. Because of this difference, the same amount of solar energy falling on equal areas of land and ocean will heat up land much faster than it can heat up the ocean area. The water vapor in the atmosphere heats and cools at the same slow rate as the water on Earth’s surface. During the day, water absorbs little energy while land absorbs a lot of energy. At night, the little energy that water is able to absorb is held there for a long time while land releases all of the energy it absorbed. Therefore, areas near the coast (near water) tend to be cooler during the day and warmer at night compared to areas that are more inland. Whether an area is humid or dry greatly affects the temperature and climate of the region.
