how come the farther up we go from the earth surface, the colder it gets?

Answer 1

Since the sun warms up matter only, the further you move away from it you will be more and more exposed to the freezing temperature of space (460°F below zero). Air is matter as well, so as long as it is there, it will receive some warmth from the sun. But reaching higher altitudes, air will become gradually thinner the closer you come to space.
Once reaching space there is no air and therefore no solar warming effect.

Answer 2

The higher up you go in the atmosphere the less particles there are (it is less dense) the first 100km of the atmosphere contains 99.997% of the mass of the total 500km atmosphere, (cept Australia where by law national air-space stops at 100km and then outer-space starts)

Down near water level the friction of the air increase the air temp hugely, also the short wave radiation from the sun easily passes through the top layers of the atmosphere, and will only disapated at ground level, making it hot. this will not happen really high up. Also due to the little mass the upper atmosphere has is retains heat much much less then at sea level

Answer 3

That is true for the troposphere but not the stratosphere. temperatures increase with height in the stratosphere and again in the thermosphere. They decrease with height in the troposphere and the mesosphere.

The troposphere is heated from below by the earth itself. The ground is warmed which warms the air above it which in turn warmes the air above that. The warmest air is at ground level. The air is denser at ground level than it is higher up so warming the air close to the ground does not necessarily make it less dense than the air above it. This allows warm denser air to be overlain by cooler less dense air.

In the lower mesosphere and upper stratosphere, the air is warmed by the absorption of UV radiation in the creation and destruction of ozone. This makes air at the stratopause, the boundary between the two, as warm as the lower troposphere.

Answer 4

The air born ash from the Iceland volcano make a contribution to the brilliant chilly by combating lots of the iciness sunlight's Radiation from hitting the Earth's floor. the unusual move of air can be improved by variations in temperature between zones the position the ash reason dimming and zones the position it isn't.

Answer 5

Mcmurdo is right on.
The Suns radiation passes right thru the vacuum of space on it's way to earth much like you feel the warmth of the sun after it passes through a window.

Answer 6

the heat is held in the earth by the water vapor and gases under pressure, the thinner upper atmosphere cant hold the heat

Answer 7

In the upper atmosphere the air is very still, therefore there is less friction and less energy genereated. This means less heat.