Although the tops of mountains are nearer to the sun than lowlands, why do mountains feel colder?
538503
Because the air is less dense the higher the altitude, there are less molecules available to retain heat. Therefore the heat of the sun dissipates more readily.
830106
Because most politicians aren't found on mountaintops, and it takes some time for the hot air to rise, so there's a higher concentration of hot air at lower elevations.
124801
that's only true in the northern hemisphere. it's because moss likes shade, and the north side of anything in the northern hemisphere is the shady side
523421
The simplest answer I can give you is that the air doesn't absorb much heat from the sun (sunlight passes through it), while the ground does (the exception is ozone, which does absorb more radiation, and thus higher up in the atmosphere, there is actually a warm layer).  So the ground is actually what is doing the heating, and the higher you go in the atmosphere, the further you are from the ground, the cooler the temperatures.\nOf course mountains are ground... but air at the same height mixes about quite a lot, so while air near a mountain might be a bit warmer... the air in other places at the same height is well above the ground, so it's cooler overall.\n\nIn addition, air cools as rises, a second reason why its cooler higher up in the troposphere.\n\n\nSpace is really really really cold!  It's for the same reason.  The light from the sun itself isn't hot... it's when its absorbed by something, which heats it up.\n\nHope this makes sense, let me know if there is anymore I can help with here,\nGod bless,\nShane
394591
One major reason is that more of the southern hemisphere is actually ocean, so it serves as more of a heat sink and keeps the temperatures more stable.\n\nIn addition to that, if you look a globe, you'll notice that the majority of the land in the southern hemisphere (except for Antarctica) is a lot closer to the Equator than the land in the northern hemisphere is.  On most maps you don't really notice it as much because they don't bother printing the whole strip of landless ocean and a lot of Antarctica.\n\nUpdate:  In response to itchybeard below, the Earth's perihelion (closest approach to the sun) occurs in January (this year it was January 4, at about 3 pm GMT).  Thus we are actually closer to the sun during the northern hemisphere's winter, not during the southern hemisphere's.  This would be reason why the summers in the southern hemisphere tend to be hotter than ours, but not why our winters are colder.
214499
It all has to do with altitude. The higher you are from the earth, the colder it gets. Air is also thinner.
582102
Air is denser the lower you go on the earth, due to gravity pullin gthe air down. As you move up, there is more "room" for the air to expand. Air temp is just the measure of the net kinetic energy of the molecules of air. The faster and more there are, the hotter it is. therefore, as the air expands as it moves up into the atmosphere, it cools. On top of a mountain, there is less molecules actually hitting your skin, so it feels very cold.
141597
If there was no sunshine and no vertical air motion, cold air would settle to the surface, and temperature would increase going up in the atmosphere (and we'd all be dead soon ;) ). Because the ground is always radiating away heat (though often receiving more during daytime from the sun), there is a tendency for that to occur. Note the polar regions for example - during winter there is a semi-permanent temperature inversion (increase of temperature with altitude).\n\n2 things which counter the tendency for inversion are solar heating and vertical air motion.\n\nSunshine heats the ground, heat is conducted to air directly above the ground, and convection transports it up into the atmosphere. Cooling/heating of air by radiation is a slower process, so heat builds as spring and summer progress (at mid & high latitiudes) - especially in the lower atmosphere.\n\nAir moving vertically in the atmosphere (up or down) does so at the adiabatic lapse rate, which is 10 °C per km for dry air and less for saturated air (varies depending with temperature - averages about 6-7°C per km). Rising air cools at that rate, and subsiding air heats at the rate. Thus vertical air motions act to heat the lower atmosphere and cool the higher.\n\nThe combined effect of those, as a few people mentioned, is that temperature on the average decreases with altitude in the troposphere - at a rate of 6.5 °C per km (3.6 °F per 1000 ft.). Yet the lapse rate varies depending on conditions. Air during a clear night normally increases directly above the surface, strong inversions may occur during winter and ahead of warm fronts, and air can decrease at the dry adiabatic rate or briefly greater during a warm, sunny spring day. Etc.
28572
At dusk, the land has begun to cool but the ocean, being water, retains heat longer than the land does.  The temperature differential causes a wind to blow out toward the ocean due to the rising warm air over the ocean.  This wind blows the clouds out into their thin and whispy shape.
38874
How warm it feels is related to both the average speed of the gas molecules, and their density. Even though the average speed of the gas molecules at some places high in the air column might be quite substantial, and even faster than those at lower altitudes, there is less density as well at altitude, so there is less air to hold the heat. \n\nThink of the limiting case: at the edge of the atmosphere, where there are very few gas molecules. The gas molecules might be very hot, and moving with tremendous velocities, but there are very few of them, so if you are not in direct sunlight, it would feel quite cold. Of course, in direct sunlight, it might be very warm.  \n\nSo for the moon, \n\n"The temperature on the moon varies from -387 Fahrenheit (-233 Celsius), at night,\nto 253 Fahrenheit (123 Celsius) during the day"\n\naccording to \n\nhttp://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/moontemp.shtml
804973
A fundamental axiom: cold air is heavier than warm air.\n\nThus, cold air sinks (like into a valley) and hot air rises.\n\nHowever, the temperature gradient (how temperature changes with increasing altitude) is negative.  This means air gets colder as altitude increases.  So what we have is cold air at altitude pushing down on warm air near ground level.\n\nThe warm air heat comes from the ground, which is heated by our Sun.  In summer, there is a lot more of that solar energy to heat the ground and lower air in the valley than in winter.  Thus, the valley air is warm.  In fact, the weight of the colder upper air contributes a little bit to the heat below because a gas under pressure does heat up.  But in winter, when there is far less solar energy and resulting heat, the naturally colder air above settles into the valley.  \n\nBoth the cold and warm air are more or less trapped in the valley because of the hills or mountains surrounding it.  Thus, the cold air stays colder because no warm air is blown from the surroundings into the valley.  And the warm air stays warmer because no cold air is blown into it.
394180
It has to do with refraction due to different densities of air-in cooler climates, there tends to be much warmer air near the surface, with colder air in higher altitudes, plus the colder air is much more dense, so acts like a magnifying lense- The very largest moon-views are always seen close to the horizon because of this.
544676
I believe that you are referring to the fact that the earth's closest approach to the sun occurs in December/January, which are the coldest months.\n\nFirst of all, it may not be immediately obvious, but only the northern hemisphere is experiencing winter in December/January.\n\nSecondly, distance from the sun is by far not the main reason for differences in temperature on earth.  Rather, much more important is the tilt of the earth on its axis.\n\nWhen the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, the solar radiation strikes earth at a more direct angle than when it is tilted away from the sun.  It just so happens that the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun in December/January, so this is when it is coldest, even though the earth is closer to the sun.
1033631
a mountain wind would be colder, drier, and less fragrant\n\nof course it depends on what you call a mountain, some people use that name for ridiculous little molehills just cuz they're the only thing around, in that case not much.
267462
in winter  the earth is far away from the sun as  compared to summer so we receive less heat and we feel cold in winters
404726
First, a high elevation on Earth is not that much closer to the sun than sea level is when you consider the great distance from Earth to the sun.\n\nThe temperature changes have to do with air pressure... there is less of an atmosphere to hold in the heat at a high elevation than there is at sea level.  You might notice that cities at high elevation also have widely varying temperatures between day and night.  Here it will warm up in the day easily without much atmosphere to reflect energy from the sun, but at night it's like just having a sheet over you--the heat escapes easily.  At sea level you will warm up more slowly but hold that heat in much longer because you have a giant blanket of atmosphere over you, and higher air pressure to maintain the heat.  \n\nAlso at sea level, if you are by the sea, you have the added effect of the ocean or sea keeping the air temperate (around the same temperature all the time) since water maintains it temperature better than the air.
47165
The closer a country is to the equator, the more direct sunlight it receives year round. Adding about 20 degrees to the average high temperature compared to countries like the USA.