why its colder on the mountains even thou its closer to the sun?
Asked by
Markos (
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March 14th, 2008
from iPhone
not only at the mountains but also the higher you get the more colder it gets.
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4 Answers
Here is why. Also, being “closer” to the sun is really relative here, since the sun is about 93 million miles away from the Earth.
Closer to the sun? Not really, considering how far away the sun is.
It’s colder higher up because heat is contained in air, and gravity pulls air to the earth, and it collects in greater concentration (called air pressure) lower down, and is thinner (and so, able to hold less heat) higher up.
We feel ‘heat’ as the aggregate kinetic energy of the air impinging on us. At altitude there is less air impinging, it’s thinner. Water moderates temperature swings a lot and thinner air holds less of it. Most people absorb less oxygen into their blood at altitude when they are not acclimated, and that can affect the metabolism to make one feel colder.
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