eli5: why does it get so cold in the desert at night.

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Let’s take the Sahara for example, it’s a lot closer to the equator, yet at night temperatures fall to -4c (25f). Yet in the uk which is a lot further away from the equator, the night temperatures are around 15c (60f) during the summer. Why is this?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Large bodies of water act as a temperature shock absorber. Water is relatively difficult to heat or cool. That means large bodies of water tend to stay about the same temperature despite the ambient air temperature. When the air cools at night, the warmer water heats the air. The opposite happens during day when the warm air is chilled by the cooler water (which is still the same temperature as it was 12 hours prior). In the desert, there is no water to do this resulting in larger temperature swings between night and day.

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