Surface Winds
Surface Winds
Since wind is caused by air moving from the cold parts of the earth to warm parts, it generally blows from the poles towards the equator. We know that winds don't blow in a straight line towards the equator all the time like the picture bellow shows, so why do you think this might be?
The answer is because of something called the Coriolis Effect. The coriolis effect is cause by the rotation of the earth. Although air is very light, it still does weigh something. In fact, the air in a line above you to the top of the atmosphere weighs almost fifteen pounds, which means you are always carrying around fifteen more pounds than you thought. Because air has its own weight, it is pulled down by gravity and friction, which is the force that makes things stick together. This means that as the earth rotates, it pulls the air with it, causing winds to rotate around the earth.
