How does the elevation effect the climate in north America?
If you were to hike from sea level to the top af a mountain, you would notice that the temperature drops steadily as you climb. As you approach the top, you might even find ice and snow all around you. You probably know that it gets colder as the elevation gets higher. But ehy does it get colder even though you are getting closer to the sun? Consider what happenes as a mass of air moves up a mountain. As the air rises, it epands because of the lower air pressure. As the air expands, it cools. When air is cooled, it eventually reaches a temperature at wich it is saturated with water vapour, that is, it is holding as much water as it possibly can at that temperature and air pressure. This is called the dewpoint. Further cooling leads to condensaiton. Condensation is the change of water vapour into liquid water. Liquid water becomes clouds and if the droplets grow larger they may becom rain, snow, or hail depending on the weather conditions. Since the process of condenstaion releases heat
