• Question: why is it colder in the sky than on land considering it is closer to the sun?

    Asked by ciara2219 to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 15 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 15 Jun 2012:

      Well outside my expertise of animal behvaiour but! The earth has a layer of gases surrouding it that keep heat in, when you go up to the sky, even though you are closer to the sun, you’ve passed this insulation so it’s colder.

      PS: Cats

    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 15 Jun 2012:

      As light moves through the atmosphere, longer wavelengths pass straight through, however little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air. Much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.

      As you look closer to the horizon, the sky appears much paler in colour. To reach you, the scattered blue light must pass through more air. Some of it gets scattered away again in other directions. Less blue light reaches your eyes. The colour of the sky near the horizon appears paler or white.

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