Continentality

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Continentality is a factor in the creation of a desert, it is the idea that as an area is very far from the sea there is more seasonal variation, making deserts more likely. Remoteness from the sea means that there is less chance of precipitation. Continentality affects and influences both temperature and rainfall (precipitation). It is an important factor in climographs.

For example the Tassili Mountains of southern Algeria are almost 2000 km from the sea.

Because solar radiation heats land faster than water, Continentality causes greater extremes in both temperature and precipitation the farther inland an area is. This causes localized as well as global impacts on weather patterns. For instance, high pressure caused by cold, sinking air over Siberia in winter and low pressure caused by warm, rising air over Siberia in summer help drive the monsoons of South Asia.

A characteristic of regions that lack the temperature moderating effects of the sea and that exhibit a greater range of minimum and maximum temperature, both daily and annually