Planetary Energy Balance

Heat Capacity

Different materials hold heat in different ways.

LARGE HEAT CAPACITY	LOW HEAT CAPACITY
Some materials can absorb lots of energy without a large temperature increase. These materials have a large heat capacity. Water has a very large heat capacity.	Some materials have a large temperature increase when they absorb energy. These materials have a low heat capacity. Rocks, soils, sand, and other land surface materials have a very low heat capacity.
DID YOU KNOW?
Since water has a large heat capacity, there are only small temperature differences between day and night in the ocean.	Sand has a low heat capacity, so in the desert there are large temperature differences between day and night.