Scenario: Alex is hiking up a mountain. He starts at an elevation of 1,500 feet above sea level. After a steep ascent, he climbs 300 feet higher to reach a breathtaking viewpoint. However, after enjoying the view, he realizes he needs to descend 850 feet to get back to the trailhead.
In this case, the positive change is Alex climbing 300 feet from 1,500 feet to 1,800 feet, while the end result after descending is an elevation of 950 feet (1,800 - 850 = 950), which is still above sea level but less than his starting height. If we were to represent the final change relative to sea level as an absolute value:
- Starting at +1,500 feet (above sea level),
- Climbing +300 feet brings him to +1,800 feet,
- Then descending -850 feet results in +950 feet above sea level.
However, after reaching +950 feet, if we want to consider a different context, such as mistakenly measuring it from a hypothetical "sea-level baseline" brought down to measure a deep valley below sea level, we could frame it as a negative change from that perspective.
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