Source: WeatherSTEM
One of the largest factors that determines the climate of an area is its proximity, or nearness, to water. Land masses and air heat up and cool off more quickly than bodies of water. This is because water is able to absorb large amounts of heat without warming up very much. Areas of land that are near large bodies of water are more humid and have much smaller shifts in temperature between day and night, but also between winter and summer than inland areas. On a global scale, this means that coastal areas will generally have less extreme temperature observations than continental regions. The highest mean temperatures on Earth are typically in subtropical deserts, where there is almost no water. Since over 70% of Earth’s surface covered by water, it plays an important role in the climate of many areas.