Wind
Try not to get blown away- By: Julia Szwez
All About......... Winds!
Have you ever wondered how wind is created? Wind is more than a invisible breeze that can cool the air. Winds are caused by the difference in air pressure. It is also caused by unequal heating of the Earths surface. That is it! Very simple and very amazing.
Local Wind, Sea Breeze, and Land Breeze?
Ex: A cool breeze blowing in from the water over a beach.
Caused by unequal heating of the Earths surface.
Sea Breeze: A local wind that blows from an ocean. This usually happens in the day.
Ex: Ocean breeze blowing on to the land.
Land Breeze: A local wind that blows from the land over to a lake or ocean. This usually happens at night.
Ex: The land blowing wind toward the ocean.
Global Winds And Much More!
Created By: These winds are created by unequal heating of the Earths surface (just like the Local Winds).The temperature difference between the equator and the poles produce a giant convection current in the atmosphere. The warm air rises near the equator of the and the cold air sinks. That causes air pressure to be lower at the equator and greater near the poles. Difference in air pressure causes the wind to blow from the poles to the equator. Higher in the atmosphere, air flows away from the equator toward the poles. While this crazy process goes on, it produces global winds.
Doldrums: Close to the equator the sun warms up the surface strongly. The warm air rises steadily , causing low air pressure. The cool air replaces the area with the warm air, the cool air warms fast and rises before it moves very far. Near the equator there is very little horizontal movement. That makes wind near the equator very weak. Areas near the equator where the wind is weak or there is no wind is called the doldrums. The picture that I include near the title is a picture of the doldrums.
1,2,3....More on Global Winds
Jet Streams: Jet streams are a bands of very fast winds. You can find them 10 kilometers above Earths surface. They are hundreds of kilometers wide but only a few kilometers deep. They usually blow East to West at about 200-400 kilometers per hour. They travel in a wavy path.
Polar Easterlies: Cool air close to the poles sinks and flows back toward lower latitudes. A thing called the Coriolis effect moves these polar winds to the west, producing the polar easterlies. The polar easterlies and the prevailing westerlies meet at about 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south latitude, along a place called the polar front. Mixing of the warm and cool air along the polar front makes a big effect on in the United States.
Prevailing Westerlies: In the mid-latitude, between 30 degrees and 60 degrees north and south, winds that blow toward the the poles are turned toward the East by a thing called the Coriolis effect. Because this wind blows to the west- east they are given the name of prevailing westerlies. The prevailing westerlies play an important part in the weather of the United States.