Wind Belts
Wind Belts
Because the Coriolis Effect affects different parts of the earth differently, the earth is divided into five major wind belts. Each of the belts wraps around a different part of the earth. The five wind belts are The Polar Easterlies, The Prevailing Westerlies, The Horse Latitudes, The Trade winds, and The Doldrums.
Because of the rotation of the earth, each wind belt blows winds higher up in the atmosphere in different dirrections, like the image above shows. Aside from the wind belts, there is also a force called the Jet Stream. The jet stream blows from west to east in the parts of the earth farther from the equator. It generally blows about 300 km/h but can reach speeds up to 500. The jet stream is what makes it faster to fly from New York to London than from London to New York.