Why does warm air hold more moisture & why air is over oceans is colder in summer & warmer in winter compared with air over continental regions?
Warm air contains more water vapor than cold air, which is why we experience humidity during the summer and not during the winter. The water content of air roughly doubles with every 10oC increase in temperature. When air is warm, the molecules have more energy and they move about creating space for more water vapor molecules to fill in. This is the reason that warm air contains more water molecules than cool air. The heat capacity of the ocean is much greater than that of the atmosphere or the landand ocean slowly warms in the summer, keeping air cool, and it slowly cools in winter, keeping the air warm. Since the density of cold air is greater than warm air, pressure decreases more rapidly with height in the cold column. If the pressure is equal at the surface of both columns, pressure in the warm column will be greater than for the cold column at all heights above the surface.
The heat capacity of the ocean is much greater than that of the atmosphere or the land. As ocean slowly warms in the summer, keeping air cool, and it slowly cools in winter, keeping the air warm. If you warm up the air, and thus the lake, more molecules will go from the liquid phase to the gas phase. There will be more molecules of water in the air. So the air, in some sense, will “hold” more water vapor, simply because the faster molecules are more likely to be in the gas phase. The maximum amount of water vapor that can be in the air depends on the air temperature. Warmer air can hold more water vapor within it. That's why the muggiest days usually happen at the height of summer heat. But as the temperature goes down, the air can hold less vapor and some of it turns into liquid water. Cold air is denser than warm air causing what is called high pressure. Warm air which is lighter cause low pressure. In the area of higher pressure the air molecules are closer together than they are in an area of lower pressure. Air that is warmed exerts less pressure on the ground creating a low pressure region. Wet air is heavier than dry air because wet air contains water droplets in form of moisture so its density increases than that of dry air which is free from moisture. Hot air expands, and rises; cooled air contracts gets denser and sinks; and the ability of the air to hold water depends on its temperature. A given volume of air at 20°C (68°F) can hold twice the amount of water vapor than at 10°C (50°F). Warm air rises, cools, and loses its ability to contain water vapour, resulting in condensation in the atmosphere. When warm air full of moisture comes into contact with a cooler wall or window, the warm air is unable to maintain the same quantity of moisture, and the water is discharged onto the cold surface. The more water evaporates in a given area, the more water vapor rises into the air, and the higher the humidity of that area is. Hot places tend to be more humid than cool places because heat causes water to evaporate faster.
Warm air rises, cools, and loses its ability to contain water vapour, resulting in condensation in the atmosphere. When warm air full of moisture comes into contact with a cooler wall or window, the warm air is unable to maintain the same quantity of moisture, and the water is discharged onto the cold surface. Warm air often has more water molecules than cooler air but this is because of the energy level of the water particles. To understand this, we must first understand what air is. Air is filled with stuff! When air is warmed the water molecules in the air are also warmed, giving them more energy. Hot air expands, and rises; cooled air contracts gets denser and sinks; and the ability of the air to hold water depends on its temperature. A given volume of air at 20°C (68°F) can hold twice the amount of water vapor than at 10°C (50°F). The more water evaporates in a given area, the more water vapor rises into the air, and the higher the humidity of that area is. Hot places tend to be more humid than cool places because heat causes water to evaporate faster. The heat capacity of the ocean is much greater than that of the atmosphere or the land. As a result, the ocean slowly warms in the summer, keeping air cool, and it slowly cools in winter, keeping the air warm.The climate of a region depends on many factors including the amount of sunlight it receives, its height above sea level, the shape of the land, and how close it is to oceans. Since the equator receives more sunlight than the poles, climate varies depending on its distance from the equator. Water has a fairly high heat capacity and the ocean is huge so there is a lot of thermal energy stored in there. Once the summer is gone, it starts losing that thermal energy to the colder air. so for a while, the ocean is warmer than the air.The continents get heated faster and get cooled faster in comparison to the Oceans. This is the reason that the temperatures of the Oceans are moderate while that of continents is extreme. The moderating effect on the temperature of the land due to the proximity of the seas is called Maritime influence. Tropical oceans receive a lot of direct overhead sunlight for much of the year, so the water is warm. Summer is the only time polar regions receive sunlight, and even then, it is never directly overhead, so water in these places tends to be cold.
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