- What is altitude?
- How is altitude measured?
- Altitude above sea level
- Altitude and latitude
- How does altitude influence the climate?
We explain what altitude is, how it is measured and how it influences the climate. Also, what is the difference between latitude and altitude.
What is altitude?
In geography, the altitude is called the measurement of the vertical distance between any given point on the Earth relative to sea level. This measurement is expressed by means of a figure and the unit of distance, which can be meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) or feet above sea level, in countries that do not use the metric system.
Altitude measurement is important for disciplines such as meteorology, geography, aeronautics and even the architecture, since at higher altitude the conditions of Pressure atmospheric and temperature vary. So does the oxygen concentration in the air, which is why it is common to suffer from dizziness or "páramo disease" when suddenly ascending to very high regions.
The altitude, next to the latitude and longitude, are some of the most common measurements in maps and / or GPS-style global positioning systems.
How is altitude measured?
Altitude, as we said, is measured in meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.) or in other similar measurements. An altimeter is used for its calculation. It is common to find altimeters in aeronautical and sports vehicles, and they can even be incorporated into cell phones and other electronic devices.
Altitude above sea level
Altitude is measured in comparison to sea level, since it is always straight and what is below is submerged. However, there is no uniform height of the sea throughout the planet, and each country uses a certain sea level as a convention to measure its altitudes. But this difference in levels is so minute that it is almost negligible.
The problem with sea level is that with the passage of weather it has been changing. To the extent that global warming melt the poles and add more Water, the sea level increases in millimeters. On the other hand, the sea is affected by the tides, as well as by tectonic movements that generate coasts of emersion (they leave the water) and submergence (they submerge in it).
Altitude and latitude
These two concepts are often named, but they do not mean the same thing. While altitude has to do with the height above sea level of a place, its latitude refers to the geographical location on the globe, taking as a reference the imaginary line of the equator, which divides the globe into two hemispheres.
Thus, there are two different latitudes: the north (northern hemisphere) and the south (southern hemisphere), measured in degrees (°), the equator being latitude zero (0 °) and the north and south poles + 90 ° and -90. ° respectively.
Latitude also allows us to divide the world into climatic regions: the tropics, temperate regions and circumpolar zones, since as we move towards the poles, the sunlight impacts less directly and the weather it is colder.
How does altitude influence the climate?
Altitude, as we said before, has a direct influence on temperature and pressure, and therefore on the climate as well. Thus, it is possible to establish a series of thermal floors as we ascend in the altitude of some relief specific: “floors” because, like the floors of an elevator, they follow one another as you go up.
In the inter-tropical regions of the globe, for example, for every 1.8 meters of altitude the temperature will drop by 1 ° C with respect to that of sea level.