Eli5: How is it possible that deserts are super hot at day time and below freezing point at night time?
In: Earth Science
Thermal mass. (Actual ELI5 answer here, not perfectly accurate.)
If you put equal size chunks of metal and plastic in the freezer, wait a week, then take them out, the plastic will warm up to room temperature very fast while the metal will remain cold for hours. This is because solid metal has very high thermal mass. It stores a lot of cold while it’s in the freezer, and takes a long time to release all that stored cold when its out in the open.
Trees, lakes, and even rocks and dirt absorb and store the heat from the sun during the day, then release it at night. This keeps the environment around the same temperature at all hours. Sand does not absorb heat. It reflects the sunlight like a mirror during the day, heating up other things (like people). At night the sand has no stored energy to release so it gets very cold.
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