2153: Effects of High Altitude

2019-05-22T18:36:56Z

Widderwald: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2153
| date = May 22, 2019
| title = Effects of High Altitude
| image = effects_of_high_altitude.png
| titletext = If she'd lived in Flagstaff (elevation 6,903 feet), Cruella de Vil would only have needed 89 dalmatians for her coat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HIGH BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic starts out with a couple facts about high altitude:
* Water boils at 202 degrees F (94 degrees C), slightly lower than the baseline 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) it takes at sea level, due to the lower air pressure.
* Baseballs and golf balls fly slightly farther due to the lower air resistance and gravity.
* Sunburn develops faster due to the decreased atmosphere filtering out harmful rays.

It quickly degenerates into the comical and absurd applying this "slightly less" rule to everything

* {{w|Scrabble}} is a board game where each letter is assigned a point value based on their frequency of use in the edition's language. The comic claims all letters are worth 16% more (about 2 points more if applied to the shown "Q" tile) implying that the edition of scrabble used at higher altitude is designed for dialects where uncommon letters are used even less frequently. The {{w|Scrabble_letter_distributions#English|normal values for the Scrabble tiles}} Q, X, and Y are 10, 8 and 4, respectively.
* A common adage states that breaking a mirror causes 7 years of bad luck. The comic claims that at higher altitudes, only 5 ½ years are caused. It is unclear whether this implies that people living at higher altitudes have more or less luck.
* Marketing campaigns will often state "X is the new Y" to draw the audience of X in toward the newer Y. When used with age, usually at 10 year intervals ("40 is the new 30" is the slogan referenced), it is an attempt to convince an older audience that they can share in an experience commonly associated with a younger audience. At higher elevations, the comic claims, people can use or do things designated for an even younger audience
* German band Nena's hit {{w|99 Luftballons}} (99 Red Balloons in the English translation) is a song about a global nuclear war started by a large clump of balloons, taken to be an enemy aircraft. The comic affirms that, if launched from a higher altitude, it would only have taken 94 balloons to resemble an enemy aircraft.
* {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|4:20}} is a code word for {{w|cannabis}} and has evolved in some circles to be the socially acceptable hour to consume cannabis. This has in turn evolved into a joke that when checking the time and finding it is exactly 4:20, people will add "blaze it" as a reference. The comic claims that, at higher altitudes, the socially acceptable time is 4:17.Marijuana jokes are made earlier. This joke is probably related to the {{w|Cannabis in Colorado|legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado}}.

===Title text===
* {{w|the 101 Dalmatians}} is a children's book and Disney franchise based on it, where the villain, Cruella de Vil, aims to capture and kill 99 dalmatian puppies to have the perfect spotted fur coat (the title comes from adding to them the two that try to save them). The comic claims that, at a higher altitude, she would only have needed 94, possibly implying that puppies at higher altitudes are bigger.

The effects in the first three panels are plausible effects of high altitude related to the air getting "thinner" and the lower air pressure. The lower air pressure leads to a lower boiling temperature, less air resistance (baseballs and golf balls flying farther) and sunburns.

As usual for xkcd, the effects of high altitude are extended in an absurd manner.

The fourth panel suggests that the score of Scrabble letters increases together with the increasing elevation.

The fifth panel refers to the superstition that breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck. The comic suggests that a higher altitude leads to a lower period of bad luck after a mirror has been broken.

"94 balloons" in the seventh panel refers to the [[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena_(band)|Nena]] song [[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons|"99 Luftballons"]] ("99 balloons", there is an English version called "99 Red Balloons"). In this song a 99-year war starts after 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs.

420 is a colloquial expression for the consumption of cannabis. At 4:20 people might make a pun of this.
The eighth panel suggests that the number in this expression lowers when the elevation is increased, so if there is an elevation of one mile, people would say 417 instead of 420 when talking about cannabis consumption.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

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2153: Effects of High Altitude