Why compare these coasts?
Portland, Maine and Marseille, France are both near 43° north. The presets are conceptual coastal types, not observations or forecasts for either city. “Milder” here mainly means less severe winters.
SAME LATITUDE. DIFFERENT WINTERS.
The sea remembers summer.
Explore a Maine-like and Mediterranean-like coast near 43° north. Change heat storage, onshore air and ocean warmth to see what shapes the seasons.
TWO SETUPS. ONE QUESTION.EDUCATIONAL MODEL
Scroll the graph sideways to explore the full curve ↔
Illustrative model curves, not observed city temperatures. Both coasts receive identical seasonal forcing.
FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY
Try a little experiment.
Choose an experiment, predict the result, then explore.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE PLAY
Stored heat buys time
Water’s large heat capacity lets the ocean store summer energy and release it later. Greater mixed-layer depth reduces the seasonal swing and shifts the temperature peak later.
Air has a history
Prevailing westerlies often bring continental air toward eastern North America and maritime air toward western Europe. Ocean transport, regional geography and atmospheric circulation also matter. The Mediterranean is not climatically uniform.
A model, with boundaries.
An illustrative two-surface energy-balance model with the same annual forcing for both coasts. Fixed linear heat-loss coefficient; assumed mixed-layer depths, air mixing and cold-air offsets. No actual city climate data, atmospheric dynamics, clouds, mountains, sea ice, salinity or ocean circulation solver. Output temperatures must not be read as measured normals or climate projections.