1. Global Winds

2. Wind Caused by differences in air pressure
Air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure
Types of winds:
Trade winds
Wind Direction
Westerlies
Direction from which the wind is coming, NOT the direction it is blowing
Polar easterlies
Jet stream
Sea breeze
Ex. North winds blow from N to S
Land breeze

3. Global Wind Patterns
Blow steadily across Earth in paths that are thousands of kilometers long
Steer weather in certain directions (usually west to east in the U.S.)
Caused by thermal energy from the sun
The sun does not heat the surface evenly causing uneven heating of the atmosphere.

4. Global Winds

5. Global Wind Belts Coriolis Effect:
Earth’s rotation causes winds to curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
Creates the prevailing winds
Prevailing Winds
Trade winds: blow from east to west near the equator.
Westerlies: blow from west to east in the mid-latitudes.
Polar Easterlies: cold winds that blow from the east to the west near the North and South Poles

6. Global Wind Belts Jet Streams:
narrow band of high winds near top of the troposphere
flow around Earth from west to east, often making large loops to the north or the south
Influence weather as they
move cold air from the poles
toward the tropics and warm
air from the tropics toward the
poles
Can move up to 300 km/h

7. Local Winds
Occur whenever air pressure is different from one location to another
Sea Breezes
wind that blows from the sea to the land due to local temperature and pressure differences
Land Breezes
Wind that blows from the land to the sea due to local temperature and pressure differences