why is the temperature generally lower at higher altitude than lower altitude for the same lattitude?
959944
It's because the thinner atmosphere at the higher altitude holds less heat.  The atmosphere and its greenhouse effect is the reason why the night side of the Earth is not frozen, because the atmosphere holds infrared radiation given off by the Earth after it is irradiated by the sun.  But at altitudes where the atmosphere is thinner, it is able to hold less of that warmth.
160161
True but...\n\nIn the Troposphere it is usually decreasing to about 40,000ft (in the mid latitudes), then in the tropopause it is generally stable, then above that I think it goes back up slightly as you get closer to space, then it gets very cold.  \n\nThe Troposhphere, Tropopause, Stratsosphere, etc are layers of air that have similar charistics.  I do not know them all but thats a littl more infor for you.
119535
I'm not sure there's a correlation between polar regions an altitude, but there's a strong connection between altitude and climate. In a nutshell, higher altitudes have the affect of moving further north (colder) climate. In the polar region this same effect applies, but is less pronounced since there are fewer climate spans.\n\nAlso, I suspect being near glaciers, water masses, etc. need to be considered for micro-climates.
703084
Ice crystals form at high altitude.  Temperature drops approximately 5 degrees for every thousand feet.  If a plane is flying at 35 thousand feet, 35 X 5 = a temperature well below zero even on the warmest day at sea level...\n\nExhaust has water vapor in it that freezes and that is what we see.
328079
Actually, the oxygen level is the same (about 21%) whether you are at sea level or at the top of Mount Everest.  But the air is thinner at higher elevations.  By thinner, I mean simply that the molecules that make the air are farther apart (less dense) than they are at lower elevations.  Because of this, the air doesn't retain as much heat.  This explains why it is colder.  \n\nAs to why it is more difficult to breath the higher up you go, as I said, the air is less dense, so with each breath you take, you are actually breathing in less air, even though the percentage of oxygen is the same.\n\nOne won't find differing concentrations of oxygen until one gets higher into the atmosphere, into the layer called the stratosphere, which begins at about 14-18 kilometers up.  Mt Everest, which has the highest elevation on earth, is about 8,848 meters high, and grows about 2.5 centimeters each year.
847528
It's because the tops of mountains has colder temperature than the bottom, that warm air rise up from the earth's heat to the air where they condense, form into clouds around the tip of the mountain is the land which is most coldest. At that position, it is a spot where clouds can be seen most often.
148133
ok, the relationship between altitude and temperature is not constant.  at sea level it is on avg 288.26 kelvin.  the temperature falls as you get higher until you are at about 11 km at which point the temperature remains constant.  the temperature fromm 11 km through 25 km from sea level is 216.66 Kelvin.  and then after 25km it starts getting warmer as you get higher until you reach 47 km and then it again becomes constant, this time at 282.66 kelvin and stays constant until 53 km.  after 53 km it continously gets colder again.  And if you go really high, it just keeps getting warmer again after 90km as you leave earth and enter space because then there is nothing between you and the the full force of the suns energy.  So if you go high enough, between 47 and 53 km, it is actually not that much colder than on the ground.  these temperatures and altitudes are based on standardized data, meaning that it is not going to be exactly the temperature everywhere at a given altitude, just like it is not 288.66 kelvin everywhere on earth, they are standardized avgs., but when engineers design airplanes, these are the numbers they use.  \n\nthe reasoning for all this is a combination of what everyone else has already mentioned.  it is the result of density, distance from the earth, radiation, etc.  See, at sea level it is warmer b/c the atmosphere traps the suns energy.  as you get higher, you get further away and it gets colder since the atmosphere it thinner(less dense) and doesnt trap as much heat.  then it levels off and starts getting warmer because the atmosphere is thinner.  this time the thinner atmosphere doesnt block as much of the suns energy and radiation, causeing it to get warmer again.  then once you get really high, it just keeps getting warmer as you enter space.  other factors are that the composition of the air changes with altitude, like the o-zone layer for example, is different from the air at sea level.\n\nhttp://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/explain/thermal/std_atm.html\nhere's a link to a graph showing how the temperature changes with altitude.  you can find tables with the exact values used to create the graph in engineering textbook or the internet as they are very common
636659
Mountains are higher in altitude than the plains.\n\nThe higher you go, the less atmospheric gases there are. This is due to the fact that gravity holds these gases close to the surface.\n\nAir holds heat. If you have less air then there will be less heat.\n\n:)
453673
While it is true that hot air rises, it is also true that it will cool as it rises. This is called adiabatic cooling.\n\nAir pressure deminishes as you go to higher altitudes b/c there is less gravity. Less air pressure means air particles are more spread out. Hence the adiabatic cooling effect.\n\nThis is true in the troposphere, the atmospheric layer in which we live & where weather occurs.\n\nAs you go higher the reverse happens. In the stratosphere it gets warmer due to the ozone layer. In the mesosphere it gets colder again b/c you move away from the ozone layer. In the thermosphere it gets warmer again b/c of the bombardment of air particles by intense short wave solar radiation.
1170130
barometers only measure atmospheric pressure. The higher the humidity, the lower is the pressure . Of course for a same mass of air, the pressure is directly related to temperature (PV=nRT)\n\nso to answer your question: Lower in the tropical forest
1070939
Temperature decreases as altitude increases-the temperature of the atmosphere is coupled to the temperature of the ground by convection. Warm air rises and carries heat.\nAs it expands, it cools, leading to a decrease in temperature with altitude. This occurs in the troposphere, where most of the earth's weather happens.\nThis occurs in the troposphere, where most of the earth's weather happens. Once past the tropopause, where the troposphere ends and the stratosphere begins, it's a whole different ballgame.
554161
As answer 4 implies, it defies simple description and modeling, since the lapse rate (rate of change of temperature with altitude) depends on air humidity, and of course that can vary. Up to about 11 KM altitude you can approximate the lapse rate as 6.5 C per km (ref. 1), but that applies to an "international standard atmosphere" which may not exist in your application.\nLooking at the diagrams at the bottom of the page in ref. 2, you can see how a typical real-world weather situation (warm water-laden air blowing onto the shore and passing over a mountain) has a more complex temperature profile.
194124
Because the air spreads out, and as it spreads out it retains less heat.\n\nAnd while cold air does sink and hot air rises, as cold air does get lower in altitude it warms up, and hot air cools as it rises. \n\nI live in the foothills west of Denver so I see the rising/falling air thing firsthand. In the winter we get this air that 50 miles to the west was part of a blizzard. As it descends the mountains, it dries out and heats up sometimes bringing temperatures in the middle of the winter into the 60's or 70's.
1017029
That's not the way it works...in the summer, it's warmer because the earth tilts on it's axis towards the sun...the suns radiation then has a direct 'shot' at us. In the winter the earth tilts away from the sun, and the suns rays have to go through much more of the atmosphere to get to us...\n\nAs for being cooler...I think it has to do with air pressure at higher altitudes, and being further from the heat being reflected off the ground...
582102
Air is denser the lower you go on the earth, due to gravity pullin gthe air down. As you move up, there is more "room" for the air to expand. Air temp is just the measure of the net kinetic energy of the molecules of air. The faster and more there are, the hotter it is. therefore, as the air expands as it moves up into the atmosphere, it cools. On top of a mountain, there is less molecules actually hitting your skin, so it feels very cold.
587432
Colder air is "thicker," moves much more slowly than does hot air, and is heavier than warmer air...Air will set up a gradient from the coldest at the bottom to the hottest at the top in a container...
152908
The average temperature of the troposphere (0 to 6 miles above Earth) is 59-degrees Fahrenheit.