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TheMountainEnvironmentandEffectsonWorldClimate

TheMountainEnvironmentandEffectsonWorldClimate

Mountainshaveaprofoundinfluenceonnotonlytheirlocalclimateandimmediatevicinity,butsometimesinareasathousandormoremiles
away.Thisisduetothefactthatmountains,juttingupintoanotherwiseorderlyflowofwindsaroundtheglobe,causethesewindstobelifted
up,overandaroundthepeaksandridges.
Theforcingoftheairtorisecausesittocoolandcondense,formingcloudsandprecipitationthismakesthemountainenvironmentmuch
wetterthanthesurroundinglowlands.
Theotherthingisthatasonegoeshigherinamountainenvironmentitgetscolderandcolderbutwhy?Afterall,youaregettingcloserto
thesun,right?Well,yeah,youareclosertothesunonamountainthanatsealevel,butnotenoughtomakeanydifference.Imean,when
comparedtoourdistancefromthesun,themountainheightsareextremelyinsignificant.Infact,iftheearthwasshrunkdowntothesizeofa
cueball,itwouldbemoreperfectlyroundandsmooththanthecueballyoucouldn'tevenfeelMt.Everest!
(Wow!ThatmakesmefeeltinyImean,comparedtous,theearthisHUGE!)
OK,sothereasonitgetscolderthehigheronegoesisbecauseoftheeverthinningair.Thisthinairholdslesswaterandthusabsorbsless
heat.Thehigheryougo,thethinnertheairisandthustheeffectofnotholdinganyheatgetsmoreprofound.
Forexample,atEverestBaseCamp,around18,000feet(5,486m.),itcanbequitecomfortableonasunnysummerdaywithnowind,butas
soonasthesundisappearsbehindthickcloudcoveroramountain,thetemperatureplummets,oftentonearzerodegreesF.Alsothereisa
markeddifferenceintemperatureinjuststeppingintotheshadeofalargeboulder.
Soanyway,asyouclimbhigherinamountainenvironmentthetemperatureonaveragedrops25degreesF.forevery1,000feet(305m.)
gaininaltitude.Howeverthiscanvarythroughoutthedayorseason,oratdifferentlatitudes.Duringcertainweatherconditions,thiscan
actuallyreverse,anditcanbecolderatthesurfacethanatmoderatealtitudes.However,thisphenomenonisusuallyveryshortlivedandhas
noeffectontheoverallmountainclimate.
Ifitwerenotformountainsinterferingwiththegreatflowofwindcurrentsaroundthe
earth,theoverallworldclimatewouldbefarlesscomplicated.Forexample,within
justafewhundredmilesfromeachotherinSouthAmerica,aretheAtacamaDesert
andtheAmazonRainforest.Theprimaryreasonfortheseoppositeextremesisthe
greatAndesmountainrangewhichformsabarrierbetweenthetwo,thuspreventing
anyrainintheAtacamaandactuallyenhancingrainfallintheAmazon.
TheAtacamaisconsideredthedriestdesertintheworldandsomeareasofithave
notreceivedanysignificantrainfallinatleast400500years!
Bycombiningthedifferencesinprecipitationandtemperaturebroughtaboutby
differentaltitudes,asinglemountainrangecanhaveagreatvarietyofclimatezones
andbiodiversity.OneofthebestexamplesofthisisthemysticalRwenzori
Range(Theoldspellingis:Ruwenzori),alsoknownasTheMountainsoftheMoon,in
Africa.

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Whyisitcolderatahigheraltitudewhentechnicallyitiscloser
tothesun?
Answer1:
Thisisagreatquestion,buttheanswerisalittlecomplicated,soyou
havetohelpmeout.
First,wehavetounderstandairpressure.Alotofpeoplethinkthat
airhasnoweight.Thisisnottrue.Airismatterandithasmass.
Massisafancywayofsayingstuff.Wemeasurethemassby
weighingit.
Pictureyourselfstandingbythefootofamountain.Thereisa
columnofaironyouthatgoesallthewayupintotheendofour
atmosphere.Itispushingdownonyou,butyoudontnoticeit.(Ifwe
swappedinwaterforair,youwould.)Nowpictureyourselfonthe
topofthemountain.Thecolumnofairisshorternow,soitweighs
less.Itisputtinglesspressureonyou.Gotthat?Moreairpressure
downbysealevel,lessonthetopofthemountain.
Pressuresquishesthingsdownsothattheytakeuplessspace.
Volumeisafancywayofsayingspace.Thesameamountofair
issquashedintoasmallerspacedownatsealevel.Ontopofthe
mountain,itismorespreadout.
Heatisenergy,notstuff(matter).Wecantseeheat.Wemeasureit
astemperature.
Thispartistricky,sohelpmeoutbygrabbingapieceofpaper,a
ruler,apencil,andaredcrayonormarker.
1.Drawasquarewiththepencil.Makethesquareabout2incheson
eachside.
2.Nowusetheredcrayonormarkertodraw20linesfromthetopto
thebottomofthesquare,partlyfillingitin.
3.Nexttothis,usethepenciltodrawasecondsquarethatisabout
3inchesoneachside.
4.Nowusetheredcrayonormarkertomake20lines,eachone2
incheslong,insidethebigsquare.
Inyourdrawing,theredlinesaretoshowheat.Youcanseethata
lotlessofthebigsquareiscoveredbyred.Ifyouwereanant
walkingaroundinthebigsquare,youwouldtouchalotlessheat.
Whenairisnearsealevel,airpressuresquashesitintoasmall
space,likeyoursmallsquare.Whentheairishighonthemountain,
itspreadsout.Thisislikeyourbigsquare.Thesameamountofheat
isnowinabiggerspace,soitismorespreadout.Sotheairiscolder
ontopofmountainsbecausethereislessairpressure.
Heatisnotreallyred,anditsnotreallylines.Thepicturethatyou
drewhelpsyouthinkaboutheat.Yourpictureisamodel.Scientists
usemodelstohelpthemselvesthinkaboutthingsandto
communicatetootherpeople.
Someplacesonlandareactuallybelowsealevel.Doyouthinkthey
arehotterorcoolerthanplacesatsealevel?
Ifyouliketothinkaboutthissortofquestion,youmaywanttostudy
atmosphericscience.
Thanksforasking,
Answer2:
Soyouknowthatthesunisreallyhot,butspaceisreallycold.Since
thetemperatureoftheEarthissomuchhotterthanspace,youd
expectthatthecloseryougettospacethecolderitgets.Eventually
asyougetclosertothesun,thetemperaturewillstarttoincrease.
Youmayhaveheardpeoplesaythattheairisthinnerathigher
altitudes.Whatthismeansisthatitislessdense.Generally,theless
denseairis,thecolderitis.Sotheairisdensestclosesttothe
surfaceoftheEarth,thenitgraduallybecomeslessdenseuntilyou
gettothevacuumofspace.Thisdensitydifferenceaccountsforthe
temperaturedifference.

Answer3:
Athigheraltitudes,theairisthinner.That'swhyit'shardertobreathe
athighaltitudesthere'slessoxygen.There'salsolessofeverything
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elsecarbondioxide,watervapor,etc.Thesegases,whichare
greenhousegases,arethepartofouratmospherewhichkeepEarth
atawarmtemperaturecomparedtoouterspace.Withoutthis
atmosphere,Earthwouldbeuninhabitablycold.So,eventhough
higheraltitudeareasareclosertothesun,theyhavelessabilityto
absorbthewarmthofthesunbecausetheyhavelessofthese
gases.

Answer4:
Goodquestion!
Whenairexpands,ithastopushthesurroundingairoutofitsway,
whichmeansthatitexpendspartofitsenergytodothepushing.As
aresult,theexpandingaircools.Whenaircontracts,itgetspushed
intoasmallerspacebytheairaroundit,whichmeansthatenergyis
putintoit,whichheatsitup.Eventually,theexpandingorcontracting
airwillreachthesametemperatureandpressureastheair
surroundingit,andtheheatingandcoolingwillstop.Airathigher
altitudeisunderlesspressurethanairatloweraltitudebecause
thereislessweightofairaboveit,soitexpands(andcools),while
airatloweraltitudeisundermorepressuresoitcontracts(andheats
up).
Airinouratmospheremovesupanddownaspartoftheweather:
thesunheatsuptheground(whichabsorbsmorelightthanairand
isthuswarmerthantheair),andtheairincontactwiththeground
heatsup,andexpands(andthencools).Elsewhere,coolerhigher
altitudeairsinks,iscompressedasitdescends,andgetsheatedas
thisoccurs.Thisprocessiscalled"convection",anditisresponsible
fornearlyallofourweather.

Answer5:
Youarecorrectthatitiscolderathigheraltitudes.However,the
distancetothesunhasnothingtodowiththisitisthelower
atmosphericpressurethatresultsinlowertemperatures.Keepin
mindthattheSunisabout93millionmiles(490billionfeet)away
fromEarth.EvenifyouhikedtothehighestpointinSantaBarbara
(LaCumbrePeak:4,000ft)orwereflyinginacommercialairplane
(cruisingaltitude~30,000ft),youarestillrelativelythesame
distancefromtheSun(REALLYfaraway).
Theanswertoyourquestiondealswiththepressureand
temperaturerelationshipofagas.TheEarth'satmosphereisthin
layerofgasescomposedofnitrogen(78%),oxygen(19%),and
othergases(~3%).Asyougotohigheraltitudes,therearelessair
moleculespushingdownonyou(lowerpressure).Whenthe
pressureofagasdecreases,thetemperaturealsodecreases(the
reverseisalsotruewhenthegaspressureincreases,the
temperatureincreases).Therefore,theairtemperatureislowerat
higheraltitudes.
Hopethishelps!
ClickHeretoreturntothesearchform.

Copyright2015TheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia,
AllRightsReserved.
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Asitiswellknownthataswemovetowardshight,itbecomescolder.....the
highplacesshouldbehotterastheyarealittleclosetosun!!!!
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BestAnswer:Thedistancetothesunhasabsolutelynothingtodowith
this.Thefactisthatthetemperaturesinkswithaltitudewithanaverageof
0.65Cper100meter(3Fper1,000ft)Thereasonis:Airdoesn'tgetwarmed
upbythesun'senergy.Atleast,notatourunderthestratosphere.Whatgets
warmedupistheground.Thatwarmsupathinlayerofairrightaboveitand
sincewarmerairislighter,itrises.
Butbecausethehigheryouget,thelessertheatmosphericpressureis,that
risingaircoolsdownbythesocalledadiabaticeffect.Thisisthesame
thermodynamicprinciplethatcoolsdownyourfridgewhenacompressed
coolantisreleasedthroughanozzle.

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Thereforethehigheryouget,thecolderitis.Atthealtitudeanairlinerflies,the
outsidetemperatureisaround50C(58F).
Butsometimesthingsaredifferent.Ifthereisnowindatall,duringthenight
thecoldairfromthehillssurroundingavalleywillsinkdownbecausecolderair
beingdenser,isalsoheavier.Infact,itcancreateawindcalledakatabatic
wind.Intheearlymorning,theairdowninthevalleywillthenbecolderthanup
inthehillsormountains.
Ifyoueverseefogdowninavalley,you'llknowthatthisiswhathappened.
Becausecolderairprobablymixedwithmoistair(lakesandriversareusually
downinvalleys)iswhatisneededtoformfog.Andsincetheairaboveis
warmer,itformswhatiscalledaninversion:Coldairunderwarmone.And
nothingmoves...untilthesun,again,warmsupthegroundduringtheday.

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MichelVerheughe6yearsago
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