Continentality
Also called: Continental climate · Topic: Solar Radiation, Heat Balance and Temperature · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Climates of India"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Climate"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Solar Radiation, Heat Balance and Temperature"
Meaning
Continentality is the effect of being far from the sea on a place's climate. Land heats up and cools down much faster than water. Water's specific heat (the energy needed to warm 1 g by 1°C) is about 4-5 times that of rock and soil. So places deep inside a continent have no sea nearby to soften the heat or cold. Their hot seasons are very hot, their cold seasons are very cold, and their daily and yearly temperature ranges are large. This kind of climate is called extreme or continental.
Example
Delhi (Safdarjung station, 1951-80 data) has a January mean of 14.2°C and a May mean of 32.75°C. That is an annual range of 18.55°C. Kanpur, Amritsar and Leh in the Indian interior show similar extremes, and so does Siberia.
Don't confuse with
- Equable climate: this is the opposite. Coastal places such as Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram have small temperature ranges because the sea keeps them moderate.
Related concepts
- Factors controlling temperature distribution
- Normal lapse rate
- Adiabatic lapse rate
- Equable climate
- Microclimate
- Urban heat island