What is convection and how does it affect coastal areas?

Convection is heat transfer in liquids and gases where warmer, less dense fluid rises and cooler, denser fluid sinks, forming convection currents. In coastal areas, during the day the land heats faster than the sea. Warm air over the land rises and cooler air from the sea moves in to replace it, producing a sea breeze.

At night the land cools faster than the sea. Air over the sea is relatively warmer and rises, causing cooler air from the land to blow out to the sea as a land breeze.

These daily breezes caused by convection currents moderate coastal temperatures and are felt as comfortable winds.