CHAPTER XII 

 CLIMATIC INFLUENCES OF BODIES OF WATER 



157. Questions for Discussion. 1. Why does a deep river not freeze 

 to the bottom of the water? 2. Why does sprinkling the streets lower 

 the temperature of the air? 3. If a bathtub contains hot water, and an 

 equal amount of cold water is turned into one end of the tub from 

 the faucet, will the temperature of the water soon be the same in all 

 parts of the tub? 4. Why is it possible to raise, peaches in Michigan, 

 while in Illinois the peach crop is very uncertain and the trees are 

 sometimes killed by the cold? 5. Why do the ranchmen of northern 

 Texas often lose stock from exposure to cold, although the general 

 average of winter temperature is not low? Why would this loss be 

 unlikely to occur if all winter winds were from the southeast? 6. What 

 are some of the causes of the popularity of lakes and ocean shores as 

 summer resorts? 7. How can you account for the fact that there are 

 often breezes from water to land in daytime and in the opposite direc- 

 tion at night, although there may be no general wind disturbances 

 over large areas at the time? 8. Why may one shore of a lake be 

 much better for fruit growing than another? 9. Why do the Bermuda 

 Islands, in the latitude of Savannah, have a more equable climate than 

 Savannah ? 



158. Water and temperature. Those who have gone bathing 

 in river, lake, or ocean have noticed that the water is usually 

 cooler than the surrounding air. The common practice of 

 spending the summer season near lakes or ocean is not pri- 

 marily for the sake of using the body of water, but because 

 the surrounding air is likely to be cooler than the air many 

 miles away from such bodies of water. The larger the body 

 of water, the greater the influence on temperature. Since 

 three fourths of the earth's surface is covered by water, it 

 is clear that any effect water exerts on temperature is exten- 

 sive. It is easier to see the nature of this influence if we 



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