Global atmospheric earth (Topic1)

Question 1

What is wind?

Answer 1

wind is the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the earth by the sun and the earths own rotation

Question 2

What is the coriolis effect?

Answer 2

the coriolis effect is that circulating air is deflected towards the right in the northern hemisphere and towards the left in the southern hemishphere

Question 3

How does air move around the world?

Answer 3

Air rises at the equator, leading to low pressure and rainfall
When air reaches the edge of the atmosphere, it cannot go any further and so it travels to the north and south
As a result, the air becomes colder and denser and falls, creating high pressure and dry conditions at around 30• north and south of the equator

large cells of air are created in this way

Question 4

Hadley cell

Answer 4

The first cell is called the hadley cell. At the equator, the ground is intensely heated by sun which causes air to rise which creates a low pressure zone

As air rises, it cools and forms thick storm clouds

Air continues to rise until it cannot go any further so it travels to the north and south

As a result, the air becomes colder and denser and falls creating high pressure and dry conditions at 30• north and south of the equator. This is where deserts are found

The hadley cell is then complete. The air completes the cycle and flows back towards the equator.

Question 5

Ferrel cell

Answer 5

The ferrel cell occurs at 30-60• N&S of the equator

Air on the surface is pulled towards the poles forming warm south westerly winds in the northern hemisphere and north westerly winds in the southern hemisphere

These winds pick up moisture as they travel over the oceans

At around 60•N&S they meet cold air. the warmer air is lighter then the dense cold polar air and so it rises as the 2 meet

The uplift in air causes low pressure at the surface and unstable weather conditions. This determines a lot of our wet windy weather

Question 6

Polar cell

Answer 6

At the poles, air is cooled and sinks towards the ground forming high pressure (polar high)

It then flows towards the lower latitudes. At about 60•N&S, the cold air mixes wiht the warmer tropical air and roses upwards creating a zone of low pressure (subpolar low)

The boundary between the warm and cold air is called the polar front.