Wind
hideWind is the flow of air or other gases that compose an atmosphere (including that of the planet Earth). On Earth and within other planetary atmospheres, wind consists of air molecules in motion. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. Differences in density between two air masses lead to wind. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the geographic regions in which they occur, and their effect. While wind is often a standalone weather phenomenon, it can also occur as part of a storm system, most notably in a cyclone. While winds on Earth can be strong, the strongest winds within a planet in our solar system lie on Neptune and Saturn.
Winds are plotted on surface weather analyses indicating the direction the wind is blowing from as well as its strength, and over much of the globe wind speeds are measured over a ten-minute time frame, with the United States and India using different averaging intervals. Shorter duration winds, such as wind gusts, exceed the minimum value over the observed time frame and can cause substantial damage to power lines and suspension bridges. Winds with an intermediate duration, which sharply increase and last for a minute are termed squalls. Long-duration wind speeds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, hurricane, and typhoon. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting tens of minutes, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two major driving factors of large scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, which causes the jet stream and the associated climatological mid-latitude westerlies, polar easterlies, and the trade winds, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect), which causes the circular motion of air around areas of high and low pressure. Within the tropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In areas where winds tend to be light, the sea breeze/land breeze cycle is the most important to the prevailing wind; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes dominate the wind pattern.
In human civilization, wind has inspired mythology, influenced the events of history, expanded the range of transport and warfare, and provided a power source for mechanical work, electricity, and recreation. Wind has been used to steer sailing ships across vast oceans. By air, hot air balloons use the wind to take short trips. Airships have historically been used for longer trips, but nowadays are used for a variety of monitoring efforts such as during public sporting events and drug trafficking efforts. Wind can be dangerous, as areas of wind shear caused by various weather phenomena can lead to dangerous situations for airplanes. When winds become strong, trees and man-made structures are damaged or destroyed.
Winds can shape landforms, via a variety of aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, such as loess, and by erosion. Dust from large deserts can be moved large distances from their source region by the prevailing winds. Winds that are accelerated by rough topography and associated with dust outbreaks have been assigned regional names in various parts of the world due to their significant effects on those regions. Wind helps to spread wildfires. Nature uses wind to help disperse seeds from various plants, in order to enable the survival of those plant species, as well as flying insect populations. When combined with cold temperatures, wind has a negative impact on livestock. Wind impacts animal food stores, as well as their hunting and defensive strategies.
For more information about Wind, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with wind
New spaceship force field makes Mars trip possible
Nov 04, 2008 |
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According to the international space agencies, "Space Weather" is the single greatest obstacle to deep space travel. Radiation from the sun and cosmic rays pose a deadly threat to astronauts in space.
Kites could provide electricity for 100,000 homes
Aug 08, 2008 |
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High-flying kites tethered to generators could supply as much as 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 100,000 homes, according to researchers from the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. ...
Quiet wind turbine could provide up to 30% of a home's power
Oct 31, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A quiet wind turbine developed in Scotland is now available in the US and Canada. Its developers say that the roof-based turbine can provide significant power for homes and commercial buildings ...
Carbon Nanotube Windmills Powered by 'Electron Wind'
Jul 08, 2008 |
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Theoretical physicists from Lancaster University in the UK have designed a nanomotor that operates by a novel mechanism: an electron wind.
Wind + water = untapped energy: An abundance of power exists above Earth's oceans, study finds
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jun 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Wind energy over the planet's oceans is a vastly underutilized renewable resource, according to UC Irvine researchers.
New carbon nanomaterial shows promise of storing large quantities of renewable electrical energy
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 16, 2008 |
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Engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have achieved a breakthrough in the use of a one-atom thick structure called "graphene" as a new carbon-based material for storing electrical charge in ultracapacitor ...
Researchers evaluate highway rest areas for wind power
Mar 20, 2009 |
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Illinois is the Prairie State and home to the Windy City. And sometimes, when standing out in that prairie and feeling the wind racing across the state, you begin to wonder if there is anything between here and Kansas that ...
Ulysses spacecraft data indicate Solar System shield lowering
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 23, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Data from the joint ESA/NASA Ulysses mission show that the Sun has reduced its output of solar wind to the lowest levels since accurate readings have become available. This current state of ...
Kites flying in high-altitude winds could provide clean electricity
Jun 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- At any moment, the winds in high-altitude jet streams hold roughly 100 times more energy than all the electricity being consumed on Earth, according to a study by Stanford environmental and ...
Astronomers find coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 31, 2009 |
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The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth. No human is thought to have ever been there but it is expected to yield ...
First images of solar system's invisible frontier
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 02, 2008 |
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NASA's sun-focused STEREO spacecraft unexpectedly detected particles from the edge of the solar system last year, allowing University of California, Berkeley, scientists to map for the first time the energized ...
Not so windy: Research suggests winds dying down
Jun 10, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming - the very problem wind power seeks ...
Homeowners, small businesses install turbines to cut long-term energy costs
Apr 25, 2009 |
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Steve and Sue Kirkham's home sits atop a hill where the wind can be strong enough to mute conversations and rattle lawn chairs. Instead of complaining, they decided to harness its power.
World's first floating wind turbine opens in Norway
Sep 08, 2009 |
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The world's first floating full-scale offshore wind turbine has been inaugurated in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, Norwegian energy giant StatoilHydro said Tuesday.
The Stars My Destination
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 10, 2009 |
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The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space - the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth.
