So I live in Poland, it’s midnight and it’s currently 23 degrees Celcius. What I’m wondering is how come it’s still so hot even though there is no sun to keep it that way (mind you, it’s cooler than it was during the day)? It almost feels like there is something in the air that holds the temperature better.
In: Physics
It stays warmer because 1) it was heated up more during the day and 2) because water was heated.
1) It gets hotter during the day in summer because sunlight is more direct due to the angle of the earth relative to the sun.
2) Water holds a lot of heat and tends to mitigate large temperature swings. So a place with more water will stay warmer at night. That thing in the air that you feel is probably humidity. Warmer weather during the day heats up water in bodies of water (e.g., lakes, rivers) and in the soil, so some of it evaporates. Warmer air can also hold more water vapor in the air.
As an example, compare a desert and a swamp/marsh. The desert will get really hot during the day, but cools off very quickly at night. The desert has very little water to help keep the temperature steady. The swamp may not get as hot as the desert, but it doesn’t cool off as much at night because of all the water.
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