Earth's Amazing Winds
By: Julia Sena
Information on Wind
Wind is the movement of air caused by differences in air pressure. The greater the difference, the faster the wind moves.
Global Winds
The combination of pressure belts and the Coriolis Effect cause global winds. These are polar easterlies, prevailing westerlies, and trade winds. Prevailing Westerlies are The Prevailing Westerlies are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. Trade Winds are a wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. Two belts of trade winds encircle the earth, blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator. Polar Easterlies are the polar easterlies are the dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the polar highs at the north and south poles towards low-pressure areas within the Westerlies at high latitudes.Global wind patterns: Winds are named by the direction from which they blow. One part of global winds is horse latitudes and they are Horse latitudes or subtropical highs are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 38 degrees both north and south where Earth's atmosphere is dominated by the subtropical high.
Prevailing Westerlies
Global Winds
Polar Easterlies
Trade Winds
Local Winds
Local winds are small winds caused by temperature differences. Local terrain has a very strong influence on local winds. Local terrain has a very strong influence on local winds, and the more varied the terrain, the greater the influence. A sea breeze describes a wind that blows from the ocean inland towards land. This breeze occurs most often in the spring and summer months because of the greater temperature differences between the ocean and nearby land, particularly in the afternoon when the land is at maximum heating from the sun. Land breezes blow because unequal heating of air over land and water results in breezes near shorelines. While the land is warm during the day, air above it rises, and a cool breeze blows in from the sea. As the land cools off at night, air pressure over it increases, and a cool land breeze blows out to the sea.