Question

Explain sea breeze and land breeze with the help of a diagram.

Answer 1

Hint:
The sun is responsible for heating up both the land and the water. The heating does not take place uniformly or both the land and water do not heat or cool at similar places. The differential heating and cooling of the land and sea creates breezes.

Complete Answer:
The cold and light wind which feels relaxing is called a breeze. It is very pleasant to experience and feels cool and gentle while on a hot summer beach. Breeze is of two types. One is called sea breeze and the other is called land breeze. Both the land breeze and sea breeze takes place near large water bodies. Water retains more heat as compared to land which is the key difference in both these types of breeze.
The density air above the surface undergoes changes due to the temperature difference in land and water. This results in low pressure which causes alternating movement of air called breeze.

Let us understand the land breeze first.
The land breeze is represented by the flow of the wind from land to water. It is also called offshore wind. The land breeze occurs when the temperature of land becomes lower as compared to adjacent water bodies during the night and early morning. During the last weeks of summer, the temperature of the sea increases the land’s daily temperature. This causes land breezes to last longer. During nights the land becomes cool quickly due to absence of sun. As compared to land, the water bodies have high heat retaining capacity. This causes air above water to have low density and rises above and there is low pressure over water. On the other hand, on the land high pressure is formed. The denser air from the land moves towards the space over water. The movement of wind occurs from high pressure to low pressure zones.
Now, let us discuss the sea breeze.
Sea breeze is represented as the movement of wind from water towards the land. These are also called onshore winds or breezes. These breezes are experienced during spring and summer. This is due to the more temperature variance between land and water. When the land reaches the maximum heat level during the afternoon, sea breeze occurs. Sea breezes are more reliable during winters as there is vast temperature difference in sea and land. This leads to thunderstorms which brings rain. During the daytime the land gets heated up quickly and the air above land becomes warmer than the air above the water. The warmer air over land begins to rise and becomes less dense. Low pressure area is formed over land. The denser air from the water moves towards the space above land. This results in sea breeze.

Note:
People that live near the coastlines experience cool sea breeze during the day. At night they feel warm land breeze. The breezes play an important role in the temperature and humidity levels of a region. Precipitation is also affected by breezes.