It's about my report about Social Studies. And i'm responsible of reporting the vertical climate.
2006-09-15 03:03:39 · 8 answers · asked by amber 1 in Social Science ➔ Other - Social Science
Most of the heat on the earth comes from sunlight reflecting off the ground and being held by the atmosphere. The higher up you go, the thinner the air is. Thin air is less able to hold heat.
With the sun 93 million miles away, even climbing a 5-mile-high mountain won't get you close enough to the sun for its direct heat to make a difference in temperature.
2006-09-15 03:07:58 · answer #1 · answered by johntadams3 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When the sun's rays enter the atmosphere, they don't heat it much. These are short waves. Once they strike the ground (or a building), they reflect off as long waves, which heat the air they move through. Since there is less ground at higher altitudes, the temperature is decreased. Because the atmospheric pressure decreases, the air particles move further apart. This means that there is a decrease in the number of collisions between particles and therefore a decrease in kinetic energy of each particle. Since temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of a particle, the drop in kinetic energy will mean a drop in temperature as pressure decreases. Remember the laws of physics... Temperature is proportional to pressure, so as pressure decreases, so does temperature
2006-09-15 03:23:37 · answer #2 · answered by delanodesroches 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Amber, the answer to you question has nothing to do with the density of air. In fact as air is heated it becomes less dense.
The answer is the energy from the sun heats up the surface of the earth, be it rock or water. This intern heats up the air near it, so as you move further away from the surface of the earth the temperature drops.
Think of it this way if you have open up an oven door you feel the heat very strongly. When you move back farther and farther you feel less and less heat. Just as you move higher and higher away from the surface you feel less and less of the heat energy the surface is releasing.
2006-09-15 03:17:15 · answer #3 · answered by BOB W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question gets asked a lot. As the elevation increases, the air density decreases, resulting in cooler temperatures. Discounting inversions, microclimes, certain air flows, etc., the air cools at approximately 5.6 degrees(F) per thousand feet. This is called the Adiabatic Lapse Rate. There are some other factotrs that play into it such as humidity (Wet Adiabatic Lapse Rate) but 5.6 degrees (F) is a good rule of thumb.
2006-09-15 03:12:44 · answer #4 · answered by Spud55 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because of the change in pressure. As you climb up the mountains it gets colder, also the possibility that climate up there changes more trastically.
When you climb down the presseure goes down. and also the level of oxygen that's in the air has something to do with it.
some websites i found.
2006-09-15 03:21:04 · answer #5 · answered by angelikabertrand64 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that it has to due with the air being thinner and there when I air is thinner it can't hold much heat, but I am not a 100% sure best of luck with your report!
2006-09-15 03:07:12 · answer #6 · answered by randyssgirl25 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The air is thinner at higher altitudes.
2006-09-15 03:05:49 · answer #7 · answered by deepadot 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
temperature decrease as the altitude increases.
that's what i learnt.
sorry, i don't know the reason.
2006-09-15 03:07:20 · answer #8 · answered by anu 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋