Related topics: hurricane , tropical storm
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
Voyager makes an interstellar discovery
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
21 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (27) |
7
The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.
Pollution alters isolated thunderstorms
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (5) |
10
New climate research reveals how wind shear -- the same atmospheric conditions that cause bumpy airplane rides -- affects how pollution contributes to isolated thunderstorm clouds. Under strong wind shear ...
Santa's Sleigh: Researcher Explains Science Behind St. Nick's Christmas Magic
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (21) |
7
(PhysOrg.com) -- Santa skeptics have long considered St. Nick’s ability to deliver toys to the world’s good girls and boys in the course of one night a scientific impossibility. But new research shows that ...
Study expects rising interest in energy saving
Dec 16, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
(AP) -- Energy-efficient technology for batteries, grids and power storage will be trendy in 2010, according to a study released Wednesday on clean energy technology.
Hubble's Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region (w/ Video)
Dec 15, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Just in time for the holidays: a Hubble Space Telescope picture postcard of hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds. The festive portrait is the most detailed view of the largest ...
Tropical Cyclone Mick forms quickly, hits Fiji in the southwestern Pacific
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Tropical Cyclone Mick formed over the weekend in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and made a quick landfall over Fiji's main island of Viti Levu earlier today, December 14. Mick made landfall as a Category ...
New Study Turns Up the Heat on Soot's Role in Himalayan Warming (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Soot from fire in an unventilated fireplace wafts into a home and settles on the surfaces of floors and furniture. But with a quick fix to the chimney flue and some dusting, it bears no impact ...
TRMM Satellite sees Cyclone Cleo coming to a close
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 11, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Rainfall in the once-known Cyclone Cleo has really diminished over the last 24 hours, and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite has confirmed it. Cleo is fading and the Joint Typhoon Warning ...
Weir in space and dimmed sun creates 200-million-mile-long lab bench for turbulence research
Dec 11, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Physicists working in space plasmas have made clever use of the Ulysses spacecraft and the solar minimum to create a massive virtual lab bench to provide a unique test for the science underlying turbulent ...
Clean energy to grow into 1.6 trillion euros industry: WWF
Dec 10, 2009 |
3.4 / 5 (8) |
1
The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday.
Cyclone Cleo back down to tropical storm status
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Cleo has run into wind shear and it has weakened it from a cyclone to a tropical storm. Cleo's maximum sustained winds are now down to 69 mph, and expected to continue falling. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed ...
NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2009 |
2 / 5 (3) |
1
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the birth of Tropical Storm Cleo in the southern Indian Ocean today, December 7.
Space technology optimises windmill efficiency
Dec 07, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A French start-up company from ESA's Business Incubation Centre in the Netherlands has developed a small instrument to measure wind speed and direction from the ground up to heights of 200 ...
System 97W's 'castle wall' breached, and opened up to dissipation
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 04, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
The "walls" of System 97W have been breached, and residents in the Western Pacific Ocean no longer have a tropical cyclone to worry about today. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center cancelled their "formation ...
No widespread impact of wind power projects on surrounding residential property values in the US
Dec 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
A major new Berkeley Lab report finds that proximity to wind energy facilities does not have a pervasive or widespread adverse effect on the property values of nearby homes.
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