EFFECT OF MOUNTAINS ON CLIMATE 239 



accustomed to go either to the mountains or the seashore 

 in summer in order to get where it is cooler. They might 

 for the same purpose travel northward in the northern 

 hemisphere, but they would need to go many times as far 

 to get the same fall of temperature. 



In summer one must ascend a mountain on an average 

 about 300 feet vertically to get a mean fall of 1 F., whereas 



TOP OF PIKE'S PEA.K IN SUMMER 

 Notice the snow and the rocks broken up by freezing water. 



one must travel over 60 miles north to get the same change. 

 In winter one must ascend farther on the mountain and travel 

 not so far north, to get a change of a degree. As one ascends 

 a mountain it grows colder and colder. In ascending a 

 high mountain in the tropics one passes through all the 

 changes in climate which one would pass in going from the 

 equator toward the poles. 



As already stated, high mountains also affect the climate 

 of the country near them. The windward side of moun- 



