ATMOSPHERE - WHAT HAPPENS IF AIR PRESSURE CHANGES?

Why do my ears pop?  If you've ever been to the top of a tall mountain, you may have noticed that your ears pop and you need to breathe more often than when you're at sea level. As the number of molecules of air around you decreases, the air pressure decreases.  This causes your ears to pop in order to balance the pressure between the outside and inside of your ear. Since you are breathing fewer molecules of oxygen, you need to breathe faster to bring the few molecules there are into your lungs to make up for the deficit. As you climb higher, air temperature decreases. Typically, air temperatures decrease about 3.6° F per 1,000 feet of elevation.