Wind Flashcards
What causes wind?
The uneven heating causes the air to be at different temperatures. Cold air is more dense than warm air so it sinks. The warmer air rises. Wind occurs when air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of lower pressure.
What is the movement of air caused by differences in air pressure?
Wind
What creates high pressure at the poles?
Cold dense air
What does warm, less dense air at the equator form?
Areas of low pressure
What is it called when air moves in small, circular patterns between the equator and the poles?
Convection cells
The warming and fooling of air produces what every 30 degrees of latitude?
Pressure belts
What would happen to the wind if Earth was not rotating?
It would blow in a straight line
What happens to the winds due to Earth’s rotation?
They are deflected, or curved.
What is the apparent curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight path due to Earth’s rotation?
Coriolis effect
Winds in the northern hemisphere curve in what direction?
To the right
Winds in the Southern Hemisphere curve in what direction?
To the left
What are the wind systems that occur at or near the Earth’s surface called?
Global winds
What are the 3 major global wind systems?
Trade winds, westerlies, polar easterlies
Where do trade winds blow?
Between 30 degrees latitude and the equator in both hemispheres
What direction do trade winds curve?
To the west
