Winds
By Tyler Hatfield
What are 'winds'?
The definition of 'wind' is that the movement of air from areas of high pressure, to areas of low pressure.
What causes wind?
Wind is caused by the differences in pressure in the atmosphere. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from a higher to a lower pressured area.
Local Winds
Sea Breezes
Sea Breezes are a type of Local Wind that blows from the sea towards the land. This type of wind only occurs during daylight. During a sea breeze, the water is cooler and the land is warmer. The air is heavier over the water, and the air is lighter over the land. The air over the land rises. The reason why this happens is because the sun heats up both the land and the water, but the land heats up quicker than the water. Because of this, the air above the land becomes warmer than the air above the water.
Local Winds
Local Winds are a type of wind that only blows in a small, or local, area.
Land Breezes
Land Breezes are a type of Local Wind that blows from the land towards the sea. This type of wind only occurs during the evening. During a land breeze, the water is warmer and the land is cooler. The air is lighter over the water, and the air is heavier over the land. The air over the water rises. The reason why this happens is because that when the sun goes down, the land and water cool off from when it was out in the day, but the land cools down faster than water. Then, the water becomes warmer than the land.
Global Winds
What are 'Global Winds'?
Global Winds are a type of wind that spreads over a large area. They are crated by the unequal heating of the Earth's surface. Different parts of the world gets different forms of air pressure. The higher the temperature, the lower the air pressure. If the Sun's Rays hit the equator, giving it a high temperature, it has low air pressure. If it hits the poles, it's a higher air pressure.
High Air Pressure and Low Air Pressure
Uneven heating of the Earth at the equator and the north and south poles creates these giant convection currents. On the equator, warm air rises up and cold air sinks down. As I said before, cold air has a high air pressure and warm air has a low air pressure. This causes winds to blow from an area of higher pressure (The Poles) to an area of lower pressure (The Equator). The warm air at the Equator is pushed towards the poles where it is cooler. The cold polar air has more air pressure creating winds that move the air back towards the equator.
Diagram of the Global Winds
There are multiple types of Global Winds.
- Polar Easterlies (2)
- Prevailing Westerlies (2)
- Trade Winds (2)
- Horse Latitudes (2)
- Doldrums (1)
- Polar Easterlies (2)
- Prevailing Westerlies (2)
- Trade Winds (2)
- Horse Latitudes (2)
- Doldrums (1)