Why does the temperature decrease as we rise? Could the opposite happen?

Arab Weather - Muhammad Aouina - The temperature of the land varies from one region to another, as the elevation of the terrain affects the temperature, and the temperature decreases by one degree Celsius whenever we rise 150 meters , and this rate varies from one place to another on the surface of the earth, and from one season to another.

Some people may think that whenever we rise from the surface of the earth, we are approaching the sun and it is logical that the temperature rises, so why does the temperature decrease as we rise? Could the opposite happen?

Why does the temperature decrease as we rise?

The decrease in temperature with the rise of the earth is due to a number of factors and influences, perhaps the most prominent of which is the departure from the influence of solar radiation . After the earth is heated, the earth heats the air above it, so the air in contact with the earth’s surface receives the largest share of the earth’s heat , and air plankton also play a role. Important in preventing terrestrial radiation from rising up, as the impact of air plankton increases as we decrease due to their high density.

In the Earth's atmosphere, the pressure decreases with height , which is related to the number of particles per unit volume, and the reason is that the density of air ( thin air ) decreases with altitude (the amount of gas molecules in the air decreases), so the air undergoes expansion to maintain its adiabatic expansion)) and thus cools .

Could the opposite happen?

Reduced air temperatures to stay away from the surface of the earth, but it gets sometimes increase in temperature rise, ie , he reversed the natural state, an exceptional case is located within a short period of time and on a local scale, known case of thermal coup d'etat (Temperature inversion) occurs heat near the coup From the surface of the earth ( Surface temperature inversion ), and this happens for several reasons, the most important of which are:

• Throughout the night in the winter, the amount of lost rays exceeds the amount of rays gained, so the surface of the earth cools and the air above it is warmer.
• The sky is devoid of clouds, so the amount of heat lost by solar radiation is large due to the absence of an obstacle to its height.
• The passage of warm air in the area away from the surface of the earth, so that the rising air is warmer than the air touching the surface of the earth, or the passage of cold air directly on the surface of the earth, which makes the air in contact with the surface of the earth cooler than the air above it.

Thermal inversion does not occur only in the lower layers, but sometimes it occurs in the upper atmosphere ( upper temperature inversion ). Perhaps the most common is the one that occurs in the stratosphere due to the presence of ozone gas that absorbs infrared radiation, leading to the formation of an upper thermal inversion in the stratosphere. Stratosphere.

In addition to the thermal inversion that occurs as a result of the meeting of a cold air mass with a warm one, a cold air front is formed , in which the warm air rises over the cold air.