• milicent_bystandr
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    2 months ago

    which means that it cannot get colder that the mountains already are

    Absolutely it can. That’s the adiabatic expansion: air gets colder precisely by expanding against other air. No mountain needed.

    As to solar absorbtion, the mountain is a good point: the sun is actually incredibly strong on mountains, because less air above is absorbing light, meaning, I think, you’ve actually got more intense surface heating at the top of a mountain, unless there’s snow to reflect the heat.