As the Sun is around 150 million kilometers away, even being on top of Everest only brings you 9 km closer – far too small a difference to make you feel any warmer. The distance effect is totally overwhelmed by that of having less atmosphere around you as you climb. This leads to a steady fall in atmospheric pressure, and – as the air isn’t so compressed – a fall in temperature as well. The rate of decline is surprisingly fast: around 1°C for every 100m, and continues all the way up to the so-called tropopause around 12km above the Earth.
1 thought on “Why Is It Colder At The Top Of A Mountain, If You’re Closer To The Sun?”
At altitude the boiling point for liquids drops drastically, any moisture on the body can be catastrophic.