Which term describes the daytime onshore flow from sea to land as the land heats?

• A. Monsoon
• B. Storm
• C. Sea Breeze
• D. Land Breeze

Answer: (C)

Differential heating of land and sea creates local breezes. In daytime, the land heats up faster than the sea, causing air over the land to rise and lower surface pressure near the coast. Cooler air from the sea moves toward the land to replace the rising air, producing a flow from sea to land—the sea breeze. This onshore circulation is strongest when the land is hottest, typically in the afternoon. At night, the situation reverses: the land cools quickly, so air moves from land to sea—a land breeze. The other terms describe different phenomena: a storm is a large-scale system; a monsoon is a seasonal reversal of winds in a region.