Which surface winds are responsible

The trade winds begin as warm, moist air from the equator rises in the atmosphere and cooler air closer to the poles sinks. The trade winds are created by a cycle of warm, moist air rising near the equator. The air eventually cools and sinks a bit further north in the tropics. This phenomenon is called the Hadley cell. Because Earth rotates as the air is moving, the winds in the Northern Hemisphere curve to the right and air in the Southern Hemisphere curves to the left.

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The rest of the air flows toward the poles. What are the trade winds? The trade winds are just air movements toward the equator. They are warm, steady breezes that blow almost continuously. The Coriolis Effect makes the trade winds appear to be curving to the west, whether they are traveling to the equator from the south or north. What are the doldrums? The doldrums is an area of calm weather. The trade winds coming from the south and the north meet near the equator.

These converging trade winds produce general upward winds as they are heated, so there are no steady surface winds. What are the prevailing westerlies? Between thirty and sixty degrees latitude, the winds that move toward the poles appear to curve to the east.

Because winds are named from the direction in which they originate, these winds are called prevailing westerlies. Prevailing westerlies in the Northern Hemisphere are responsible for many of the weather movements across the United States and Canada.

What are the polar easterlies? At about sixty degrees latitude in both hemispheres, the prevailing westerlies join with the polar easterlies to reduce upward motion. The polar easterlies form when the atmosphere over the poles cools. This cool air then sinks and spreads over the surface. As the air flows away from the poles, it is turned to the west by the Coriolis effect. Again, because these winds begin in the east, they are called easterlies.

What is a sea breeze? On a warm summer day along the coast, this differential heating of land and sea leads to the development of local winds called sea breezes. As air above the land surface is heated by radiation from the Sun, it expands and begins to rise, being lighter than the surrounding air. To replace the rising air, cooler air is drawn in from above the surface of the sea.

This is the sea breeze, and can offer a pleasant cooling influence on hot summer afternoons. What is a land breeze? A land breeze occurs at night when the land cools faster than the sea.

In this case, it is air above the warmer surface water that is heated and rises, pulling in air from the cooler land surface. How is wind helpful to Earth? Impact on Climate Wind is a major factor in determining weather and climate. Wind carries heat, moisture, pollutants, and pollen to new areas. Many daily weather patterns depend on wind. A coastal region, for instance, undergoes changes in wind direction daily.

The sun heats the land more quickly than the water. Warm air above the land rises, and cooler air above the water moves in over the land, creating an inland breeze. Coastal communities are usually much cooler than their inland neighbors. Rain shadow s are created as wind interacts with a mountain range. As wind approaches a mountain, it brings moisture with it, which condense s as rain and other precipitation before coming over the crest of the mountain.

Winds also help drive ocean surface currents around the world. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current transports cold, nutrient-rich water around Antarctica. Due to the Gulf Stream, Northern Europe enjoys a much warmer, milder climate than other areas at similar latitudes, such as the U. Impact on Ecology Wind has the power to move particles of earth—usually dust or sand—in great quantities, and over far distances.

Dust from the Sahara crosses the Atlantic to create hazy sunsets in the Caribbean. Winds transport volcanic ash and debris for thousands of kilometers. The massive eruption of Krakatoa, an island volcano in Indonesia, had even more dramatic atmospheric results. Winds carried volcanic ash and debris high in the atmosphere across the globe. Europe endured years of cold, damp summers and pink sunsets. In some cases, this takes places in the desert, as sand dune s migrate and change shape over time.

The Altiplano region of South America has dramatically shaped ventifact s—rocks carved by the wind-driven sand and ice. Loess , a sediment that can develop into one of the richest soils for farming, is easily swept up by wind. Even when farmers take precautions to protect it, the wind can erode up to 2. The most famous example of this devastating windstorm is probably the Dust Bowl of s North America. Dust Bowl storms could reduce visibility to a few feet, and earned names like "Black Blizzards.

However devastating to the economy, wind is an important way plants disperse seed s. This form of seed dispersal is called anemochory. Plants that rely on anemochory produce hundreds and even thousands of seeds. Some of the most familiar seeds dispersed by the wind are those of the fuzzy dandelion.

Wind Energy Wind has been used as a source of energy for more than a thousand years—it has pushed ships around the globe and been captured in windmill s to pump water; it has turned giant stones to grind grains, make paper, saw logs, and crush ore. Today, most wind energy is used to generate electricity for homes, businesses, hospitals, schools, and industry.

Wind is a renewable resource that does not directly cause pollution. Wind energy is harnessed through powerful turbine s. Wind turbines have a tall tubular tower with two or three propeller-like blades rotating at the top. When the wind turns the blades, the blades turn a generator and create electricity. Often, wind turbines are collected in windy areas in arrays known as wind farm s. Many wind farms have been established on mountains, in valleys, and offshore, as the air from the ocean interacts with land-air.

Some people think wind turbines are ugly and complain about the noise they make. The slowly rotating blades can also kill birds and bats—but not nearly as many as cars, power lines, and high-rise buildings. The economic drawback to wind farms, however, is the wind itself. If it's not blowing, there's no electricity generated. Still, use of wind energy has more than quadrupled between and Germany has the most installed wind energy capacity, followed by Spain, the United States, India, and Denmark.

Development is also growing quickly in France and China. Kamikaze Like the Protestant Wind, kamikaze were specific historical winds. Kamikazetranslated as divine windswere major typhoons that destroyed the invading Mongolian Navy off the coast of Japan in the late s. In the 20th century, kamikaze became the informal name for suicide attacks during World War II.

The official name for kamikaze strategy is tokktai. Protestant Wind The Protestant Wind refers to the lucky weather encountered by the British Navy of the 16thth centuries.

Britain had just become a Protestant nation. Anemoi Deities representing the winds play an important role in mythologies around the world. In Europe, ancient Greek myths refer to the Anemoi , or wind gods, as Boreas north wind , Eurus east wind , Notus south wind , and Zephyrus west wind. In Aztec mythology, the four wind gods were Mictlanpachecatl north wind , Tlalocayotl east wind , Vitztlampaehecatl south wind , and Cihuatecayotl west wind.

Many people were confined to their homes for a week. The devastation and inconvenience led urban leaders to invest in the creation of the first subway system in the U. Age of Sail The ability of ships to sail with powerful trade winds helped determine the political and engineering history of the Age of Exploration, sometimes nicknamed the Age of Sail. Spanish, Portuguese, and British ships were quick, relatively easy to maneuver, and their large, complex series of sails exploited trade winds and southern westerlies to travel across the ocean.

Chicago is a lakeside city that experiences cool breezes coming off Lake Michigan. It is not, however, any windier than most other cities. The nickname most likely came from Chicagos relationship with Cincinnati, Ohio, in the 19th century. Their industrial economies, as well as their baseball teams, were fiercely competitive. Cincinnati leaders dismissed Chicago baseball players and businesses as being insubstantial and meaninglesswindy and full of hot air.

Extraterrestrial Winds The same forces that cause winds on Earthuneven heating by the sun and the planets rotationcause other planets to develop strong winds. Jupiters famous Great Red Spot is actually a centuries-old hurricane-like storm, swirling at around kph mph.

The strongest winds in the solar system, however, belong to its outermost planet, Neptune. Neptunian winds whip at speeds up to 2, kph 1, mph.

Extrasolar planets those outside our solar system have even faster winds. The extrasolar planets of 51 Pegasi have winds that blow 14, kph 9, mph! Gone with the Loo There are dozens of names for winds that blow through specific regions. Some, like the noreasters that blow from the northeast down the East Coast, are not creatively named. Here are some others: barber : cold, moisture-laden wind that freezes on contact with hair and beards. Coromuel : strong, warm wind that blows from afternoon to early morning through La Paz, Baja California, Mexico.

The wind was named after British sailor Samuel Cromwell, whose name the locals could not pronounce. Hawk : strong, cool breeze blowing westward through Chicago from Lake Michigan. The Levant, the Mideast region in the eastern Mediterranean, does not experience the levant. Loo : strong, hot summer wind that blows across northern India from the arid deserts to the west, and is only stopped by the arrival of the monsoon.

The Loo is such a powerful ecological and cultural force that ice creams and sherbets are consumed to combat Loo-induced fatigue. November witch : hurricane-force winds that develop as cold Arctic air masses meet warm air from the Gulf over the Great Lakes. Pembrokeshire Dangler : area where prevailing winds converge and cause a line of cold rain and snow to dangle north-south across the Irish Sea. Santa Anas : hot, dry winds that blow from the deserts and mountains of inland California to the coast.

Santa Anas are often responsible for spreading Southern Californias destructive wildfires, earning them the nickname murder winds.

Siroccos carry tons of dust and sand throughout northern Africa, and contribute to wet weather as they reach Europe. Also called the West Wind Drift. The Coriolis effect makes storms swirl clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

Usually, hurricanes refer to cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean. High-pressure systems are usually associated with clear weather. Hurricanes are the same thing as typhoons, but usually located in the Atlantic Ocean region. Also known as the Monsoon Zone. Low-pressure systems are often associated with storms.

Also called a temperate zone. Monsoon usually refers to the winds of the Indian Ocean and South Asia, which often bring heavy rains.