Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather inquiry - Why does the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature?

Why does the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature?

The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature is because the mountains with high altitude are far away from the ground, and receive less ground radiation, and the air is thin, the amount of clouds is small, and the heat storage performance of the atmosphere is also very low.

The troposphere where human beings live is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. The troposphere atmosphere has different absorption capacity for different wavelengths of radiation, strong absorption capacity for long-wave radiation and weak absorption capacity for short-wave radiation.

Solar radiation is mainly short-wave radiation, including visible light and ultraviolet light, which is rarely directly absorbed by the troposphere atmosphere, so sunlight can reach the ground through the atmosphere and be absorbed by the ground. After absorbing heat, the ground radiation dominated by infrared rays is long-wave radiation, which can be absorbed by the atmosphere.

Therefore, the ground is the main heat source of the atmosphere. Mountains with high altitude are far away from the ground, which not only receives less ground radiation, but also has thin air, few clouds and low heat storage performance, resulting in higher altitude and lower temperature.

It should be noted that "the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature" is only applicable to the troposphere atmosphere. In the stratosphere above the troposphere, there is a lot of ozone, which can absorb the ultraviolet rays of the sun. So in the stratosphere, the higher the altitude, the higher the temperature.

What are the factors that affect the temperature?

1, where?

Latitude factor: the temperature decreases from low latitude to high latitude. ?

(2) Land-sea distribution: due to the difference of thermal properties between land and sea, the land with a large warming range in summer and the land with a large cooling range in winter at the same latitude. ?

③ Properties of underlying surface: The temperature difference is small in areas with high vegetation coverage and wide water area, but large in exposed areas. ?

2. Atmosphere?

① Frontal activity: mainly refers to the influence of cold front (warm front) on temperature before, during and after crossing the border (for example, the temperature is higher before the cold front crosses the border; When crossing the border, the wind cooled down; Crossing the boundary, the temperature is low); The temperature difference between day and night is small when the front crosses the border. ?

② Weather conditions: cloudy during the day with low temperature; Cloudy at night, high temperature; Cloudy all day, small temperature difference between day and night; There is plenty of sunshine all day, and the temperature difference between day and night is large. ?

3. Terrain: The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature. The temperature in mountain basins and river valleys is relatively high. The temperature on sunny slopes in mountainous areas is higher than that on shady slopes. ?

4. Ocean current: Warm current increases temperature and humidity, while cold current decreases temperature and humidity. ?

5. Vegetation: high vegetation coverage and small temperature difference.