Why does it get so hot in the Sahara in the day only to literally freeze at night, yet in Phoenix it can get just about as hot in the day, but stay above 100 degrees F at night in some cases. They are both desert climates. Why the difference?
2007-02-23 08:08:26 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
While camping in the semi-arid California mountains near LA, the temperature during the day would reach the 90's F and plunge to freeze the water in my canteen at night. The reason for this wide swing is simple, at altitude, there is little moisture in the air to retain heat. Thus, the heat absorbed by the soil during the day is rapidly radiated into the atmosphere and lost into space.
But cloud coverage can stop the radiated energy from leaving the atmosphere at night. It is possible that PHX is covered by clouds now and then.
2007-02-23 13:01:56 · answer #1 · answered by oldprof 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The air in hot desert regions (Sahara, Gobi, Kalahari etc) is very dry which means it has very little effect on heat radiation (infrared radiation). During the day virtually all of the suns heat reaches the desert making it very hot but at night the heat in the ground is rapidly radiated back out into space making it very cold.
In addition, clouds act like a thermal blanket trapping warm air close to the earth's surface but there are rarely clouds in deserts so there's no insulating effect.
2007-02-23 19:36:27 · answer #2 · answered by Trevor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋