similitudes

« Mediterranean Warmth - geography. Barcelona, Spain The oceans of the world moderate the temperatures of coastal regions (see Maritime Moderation in the Midlatitudes and Maritime Moderation in the Subarctic Map Treks).During the summer, coastal locations are usually cooler than inland locations.

However, nearly landlocked bodies of water in warm arid or semiarid regions, such as theMediterranean Sea, have little cooling effect on coastal temperatures.

Under the high summer sun, the temperatures of these inland seas rise above those of the oceans atsimilar latitudes.

As a result, the coasts of the Mediterranean experience hotter summers than the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa.

Barcelona, on theMediterranean coast of Spain, has an average July temperature of 23°C (73°F). İstanbul, Turkey While the waters of the Mediterranean and Black seas offer little cooling during the summer, they act as heat reservoirs during the winter.

Their coasts therefore enjoywarmer winter temperatures than those of inland locations or east-coast locations at similar latitudes.

Although İstanbul lies well over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) fromthe west coast of Europe, its January average temperature is a mild 6°C (43°F) because of its location between the Mediterranean and Black seas. Kimch’aek, North Korea Meanwhile, Kimch’aek, North Korea, on the east coast of Asia at about the same latitude as İstanbul, has an average winter temperature of -5°C (23°F)—far below that ofİstanbul. Porto, Portugal Although Porto, Portugal, is situated at about the same latitude as Barcelona, Porto lies on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, where ocean breezes moderatesummer temperatures.

Its July average temperature of 20°C (68°F) is cooler than the average in Barcelona, on the hot Mediterranean coast. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.

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