What allows water to hold so much energy

Is caused by hydrogen bonding among water molecules. Water has a highability to absorb heat because for water to increase in temperature, water molecules must be made to move faster within the water; doing this requires breaking hydrogen bonds and the breaking of hydrogen bonds absorbs heat.

Well, both latitude and intensity of light affect temperature because, the higher the light intensity, the higher the temperature and since latitude is the measure of how close you are to the equator, then the closer to the equator you are, the higher the temperature is.