Why is it colder in high elevations? (think about it)

[Key West]

If anything, it should be hotter as we're closer to the sun.

I was temporarily satisfied with an explanation that due to heat radiation off of the ground, it's colder at mountain peaks and higher grounds.

But after traveling midwest where the plateau altitude is a constant 4000 feet for hundreds of miles, it's still freaking cold up there. So that debunks my prior belief.

So.. why?

 

[JohnCU]

ummm the air is thinner, less air to hold the heat?

 

[Sluggo]

Lack of heat

 

[Ika]

In the alps you can ski and sunbathe in your bathing suit.... AT THE SAME TIME! *brain asplodes*

 

[Lean L]

co2 is heavier than air, thus less greenhouse effect. at least how i understand it

 

[IronWing]

Farther from hell.

 

[MotF Bane]

Global warming.

 

[OverVolt]

It's because heat rises..... wait.... no

It's because your farther away from the sun.... er......

Actually I think it's because the ground(mostly water in the ground) and bodies of water hold the heat until the next day. For example the moon is about the same distance from the sun but it is like 200F on the "day" side, and -200F on the "night" side, or something of that sort.

Water helps normalize the temperature I think. So because the mountians freeze overnight the snow on top reflects the light the next day.

 

[IronWing]

Adiabats, fear them. They suck the warmth right out of the air.

 

[Gibsons]

space is cold. The earth is warm. Moving up means you move away from the warmth.

 

[FoBoT]

/facepalm

 

[Pantlegz]

it has something to do with less atmosphere, the more layers you're under the more heat is held in... or maybe it's because the air is thinner(less atmosphere) to hold the heat.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

This thread is terrible

 

[FoBoT]

Why is the air cooler at higher altitudes?

Short answer

This vertical temperature trend is a consequence of 1) lower atmospheric pressure at higher altitude and 2) heating thattakes place at the bottom of the troposphere rather than at the top. The rate of change of temperature with height, iscalled the lapse rate by meteorologists. In the troposphere, the lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, temperaturedecreases with altitude. This trend does not continue into the layer above.

 

[IronWing]

Why is the air cooler at higher altitudes?

Short answer

This vertical temperature trend is a consequence of 1) lower atmospheric pressure at higher altitude and 2) heating thattakes place at the bottom of the troposphere rather than at the top. The rate of change of temperature with height, iscalled the lapse rate by meteorologists. In the troposphere, the lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, temperaturedecreases with altitude. This trend does not continue into the layer above.

That's what I said.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Wow there's a lot of stupid people in this thread.

 

[keird]

I can haz warmfs?

 

[Turin39789]

its cause the molten core of the earth is farther away

 

[Red Squirrel]

When heat rises, it creates a vacuum effect, pulling cold air up with it. The vacuum kinda acts like a rubber band so when the cold air finally gets sucked in, it surpasses the hot air.

 

[Miramonti]

Wow there's a lot of stupid people in this thread.

This isn't the time for self-promotion.

 

[iGas]

You may already know about the relationship between temperature and pressure: When you pressurize air (or any gas), it gets hotter, and when you release the pressure on air it gets colder. So a bicycle pump gets hot when you pump up a tire, and a spray paint can or a C02 cartridge gets cold as you release the pressurized gas. A refrigerator puts both of these processes together, pressurizing gas on the outside of the refrigerator to release heat and decompressing it inside the refrigerator to absorb heat (see How Refrigerators Work for details).

 

[pray4mojo]

pv=nrt

 

[Hacp]

pv=nrt

 

[FleshLight]

v=nrt/p

 

[Lean L]

p=nrt/v