While Europe is baking and battling devestating fires there is a surprising way of keeping cool and learning something about fridges.

Sea fog at 08.30 today

 

Right now in places like Marbella the Mediterranean sea is shrouded in sea fog. It's been around for a few days and a direct consequence of the heat. Sea water evapourates in the heat of the day and condenses during the night. It drops down to sea level forming dense fog. The fog then drifts in to land with the slight thermal breeze (another effect of the heat) from the colder sea to the still warm land with the rising air pulling in the wads of fog.

Sea fog around midday, still dense

 

An amazing spectacle, slightly creepy even. And the best thing is the cooling effect. Temperatures drop from around 34 Celsius in the afternoon to a refreshing 22 in early morning, while those living just a little away from the coast are finding it hard to sleep without aircon and night temperatures around the 28 to 30 mark. Should you want to sleep close to or on the beach, bring a jumper and a good sleeping bag.

a little after lunch, early afternoon

 

The early morning walk will also require a jacket. And yes, this is how fridges work - condensation. But fridges need a compressor to pump the cooling gases around, the Eath does it naturally - energy from the sun and cooling from the sea. The key words for the specific phenomenon are marine layer and inversion. The following diagram is a more general image of the water cycle.....

Wikipedia