Heat capacity Implication The same amount of heat absorbed or released by water causes smaller temperature change than other substances The oceans absorb heat from the sun in summer, and release it in the winter without causing dramatic temperature change Without water absorbing and releasing heat, daily and season temperatures on the earth would fluctuate as drastically as they do on the waterless moon and the planet Mercury ( where T fluctuates by hundreds of degrees during the light-dark cycle) Stabilize temperatures of organismsHeat capacity: Implication • The same amount of heat absorbed or released by water causes smaller temperature change than other substances. • The oceans absorb heat from the sun in summer, and release it in the winter without causing dramatic temperature change. • Without water absorbing and releasing heat, daily and season temperatures on the earth would fluctuate as drastically as they do on the waterless moon and the planet Mercury. (where T fluctuates by hundreds of degrees during the light-dark cycle). • Stabilize temperatures of organisms