I got booted from my 10 D aisle seat this morning (actually, the flight attendant asked nicely if a family of three could sit there). The exit row on the wing still had open seats, and I picked one by the window .. a mistake. The seal on the exit door is not perfect, and the airplane hull is a little thinner there, and cold to the touch. So I was cold all the way to Denver. Had my warm jacket on but my legs and feet were cold, and there were zero blankets on board. Where we fly at the top of the troposphere at 35,000 ft*, the air is at about minus 55°C/ minus 67°F outside. Surprisingly, from thereon up in the stratosphere, the temperature of the air increases again. The layer of ozone in the stratosphere absorbs sunlight, which makes it warmer again as one goes up .. and there is a lot of up from there!
*alongside Ruppell’s Vulture, amazingly – see the diagram below
