factors affecting pressure and wind patterns

Question 1

coriolis effect

Answer 1

Winds blowing from high to low pressure are deflected by the spinning of the earth.

In the northern hemisphere winds are deflected to the right. In the southern hemisphere they are deflected to the left.

Sometimes winds are deflected to such an extent that they flow almost horizontally creating a Geostrophic wind.

Question 2

rossby waves

Answer 2

Wave-like patterns found within the westerly wind belts.

They form as a result of temperature and pressure differences.

By looping southwards cold polar air is transferred to lower latitudes, and by looping northwards warm tropical air is transferred to higher latitudes.

Question 3

jet streams

Answer 3

Earth is split into two hemispheres, and air is constantly moving around to spread heat and energy from the equator to the poles.

Three large groups, or cells, in each hemisphere help to circulate this air within the lowest part of the atmosphere, the troposphere.

Therefore, the jet stream exists largely because of a difference in heat, which in the northern hemisphere means cold air on the northern side of the jet stream and warm air to the south

Question 4

rotation of the earth

Answer 4

This movement tends to deflect air from the poles towards the equator.

Air moving from high to low pressure is deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

Question 5

land sea and mass

Answer 5

The rate of heating and cooling varies greatly over different land and sea areas.

This creates distortions in the pattern of pressure belts, with a corresponding effect on winds.

Question 6

trade winds and westerlies

Answer 6

Trade winds are the powerful prevailing winds that blow from the east across the tropics. Trade winds are generally very predictable. Ships relied on trade winds to establish quick, reliable routes across the vast Atlantic and, later, Pacific Oceans. Even today, shipping depends on trade winds and the ocean currents they drive.

Westerlies are prevailing winds that blow from the west at midlatitudes. They are fed by polar easterlies and winds from the high-pressure horse latitudes, which sandwich them on either side. Westerlies are strongest in the winter, when pressure over the pole is low, and weakest in summer, when the polar high creates stronger polar easterlies.