Our dynamic planet. Book 2. Part 2 / Наша меняющаяся планета. Книга 2. Часть 2

In Chapter 4 you looked at plate tectonics and its influence on the climate and habitability of the Earth. In this chapter you will look at a specific aspect of this relationship, namely mountain building. Mountain ranges attract their own microclimates, which tend to be cooler and often wetter than the lowland areas that surround them.

It may strike you as odd that temperatures drop as altitudes increase; after all, the higher the altitude, the closer the Earth’s surface is to the Sun. This is primarily because direct solar radiation causes very little heating of the air; most heating is due to radiation reflected back from the Earth’s surface. Furthermore, air forced to rise by the presence of a mountain will expand and cool in response to the decreasing atmospheric pressure. Eventually, any water vapour in the air will condense. forming clouds and precipitation, which at high altitudes may fall as snow. Even at low latitudes, high mountains may be capped with snow or ice (Figure 5.1). <...>