What occurs to temperature as altitude increases in the troposphere?

In the troposphere, temperature decreases with increasing altitude. This trend is primarily due to the way the atmosphere is heated. The Earth's surface absorbs solar radiation and transfers this heat to the air directly above it. As you move higher in the troposphere, the air is farther from the heat source, resulting in lower temperatures. This decrease in temperature with height is known as the environmental lapse rate, which typically averages around 6.5 degrees Celsius per kilometer.

Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for grasping concepts related to weather patterns, climate zones, and atmospheric phenomena. It explains why mountainous areas often have cooler temperatures than lowland regions at the same latitude. The layers of the atmosphere above the troposphere behave differently, with temperature generally increasing with altitude in the stratosphere due to ozone absorption of UV radiation, but this does not apply to the troposphere itself.