Alpine climate

The variability of the alpine climate throughout the year depends on the latitude of the location.

For tropical oceanic locations, such as the summit of Mauna Loa, the temperature is roughly constant throughout the year.

[3] For mid-latitude locations, such as Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the temperature varies seasonally, but never gets very warm.

As air rises and cools, it eventually becomes saturated and cannot hold its quantity of water vapor.

[10] This relationship is only approximate, however, since local factors, such as proximity to oceans, can drastically modify the climate.

They are present in the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, Gansu, Qinghai and Mount Lebanon[12] in Asia; the Alps, the Urals, the Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Mountains and the Sierra Nevada in Europe; the Andes in South America; the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Rocky Mountains, the northern Appalachian Mountains (Adirondacks and White Mountains), and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in North America; the Southern Alps in New Zealand; the Snowy Mountains in Australia; high elevations in the Atlas Mountains, Ethiopian Highlands, and Eastern Highlands of Africa; the central parts of Borneo and New Guinea; and the summits of Mount Pico in the Atlantic[13] and Mauna Loa in the Pacific.

The lowest altitude of alpine climate varies dramatically by latitude.

If alpine climate is defined by the tree line, then it occurs as low as 650 metres (2,130 ft) at 68°N in Sweden,[14] while on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the tree line is at 3,950 metres (12,960 ft).