Why is it colder at higher elevations? A thorough and visual explanation.

<p>The Internet should be a place where we can find good answers to basic scientific questions. Unfortunately, that&rsquo;s not always easy.</p> <p>Consider the question, &ldquo;Why is it colder at higher elevations?&rdquo; It seems like you should be able to Google this and find a straightforward and enlightening answer. However, most online explanations (e.g. on question-and-answer websites like Quora, StackExchange, Reddit, and even many educational sites like Scientific American) are wishy-washy, incomplete, visually bankrupt, needlessly arcane, and/or grammatically shameful.</p> <p>On Quora, a thread addressing the question of &ldquo;Why is it colder at high elevation&rdquo; contains&nbsp;<strong><em>50</em></strong>&nbsp;different user-generated answers, ranging from unsatisfying to spectacularly wrong. One Quora user, &ldquo;Tzvi Freeman,&rdquo;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.quora.com/If-hot-air-rises-then-why-is-it-so-cold-at-the-top-of-a-mountain/answer/Tzvi-Freeman-1?ch=2" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">notes</a>&nbsp;that reading through those answers gave him a feeling of &ldquo;utter confusion and exasperation.&rdquo; He continues:</p> <p><a href="https://barrywfischer.medium.com/https-medium-com-barrywfischer-why-is-it-colder-at-higher-elevations-52f6c98544ca"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>