Why does land heat faster than water?
Excellent question. Actually, water has very high heat capacity. In fact, heat capacity is measured in most substances by comparing the substance to water. Water is the standard. Which is one of the reasons my web name is water since it is a such a unique substance and you can’t live without me. (Joke intended! Yes, I know, boooo!) But, seriously, it takes more energy to raise the temperature of water one degree than nearly all other substances. So with equal heat from the sun on water, and soil…it takes less energy per unit area to warm soil than water. And as stated, by another answer, water also has the advantage of being a fluid and conducts the heat to a much greater depth more easily than in soil or rock. Thus, water will always warm much more slowly than soil. But, the opposite is also true. Due to the same property, soil will cool more rapidly than water at night.
