Wind

[1] The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect).

In human civilization, the concept of wind has been explored in mythology, influenced the events of history, expanded the range of transport and warfare, and provided a power source for mechanical work, electricity, and recreation.

Hot air balloons use the wind to take short trips, and powered flight uses it to increase lift and reduce fuel consumption.

Globally, the two major driving factors of large-scale wind patterns (the atmospheric circulation) are the differential heating between the equator and the poles (difference in absorption of solar energy leading to buoyancy forces) and the rotation of the planet.

By leveraging both spatial and temporal data, these models enable scientists to analyze and predict global and regional wind patterns, contributing to our comprehension of the Earth's complex atmospheric system.

[32] Trade winds also steer African dust westward across the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean, as well as portions of southeast North America.

The term was first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area.

[34] Its poleward progression is accelerated by the development of a heat low over the Asian, African, and North American continents during May through July, and over Australia in December.

The westerlies can be particularly strong, especially in the southern hemisphere, where there is less land in the middle latitudes to cause the flow pattern to amplify, which slows the winds down.

[42] The Westerlies play an important role in carrying the warm, equatorial waters and winds to the western coasts of continents,[43][44] especially in the southern hemisphere because of its vast oceanic expanse.

Hills and valleys substantially distort the airflow by increasing friction between the atmosphere and landmass by acting as a physical block to the flow, deflecting the wind parallel to the range just upstream of the topography, which is known as a barrier jet.

Moisture is removed by orographic lift, leaving drier air on the descending and generally warming, leeward side where a rain shadow is observed.

[64] Wind shear itself is a microscale meteorological phenomenon occurring over a very small distance, but it can be associated with mesoscale or synoptic scale weather features such as squall lines and cold fronts.

[71] Strong vertical wind shear within the troposphere also inhibits tropical cyclone development,[72] but helps to organize individual thunderstorms into living longer life cycles that can then produce severe weather.

[83] During the North African Campaign of the World War II, "allied and German troops were several times forced to halt in mid-battle because of sandstorms caused by khamsin... Grains of sand whirled by the wind blinded the soldiers and created electrical disturbances that rendered compasses useless.

If the wind gradient is significant or sudden, or both, and the pilot maintains the same pitch attitude, the indicated airspeed will increase, possibly exceeding the maximum ground launch tow speed.

As the glider descends through the wind gradient on final approach to landing, airspeed decreases while sink rate increases, and there is insufficient time to accelerate prior to ground contact.

[103] The general wind circulation moves small particulates such as dust across wide oceans thousands of kilometers downwind of their point of origin,[104] which is known as deflation.

[105] Loess is a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable, slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty, pale yellow or buff, windblown (Aeolian) sediment.

[103] During mid-summer (July in the northern hemisphere), the westward-moving trade winds south of the northward-moving subtropical ridge expand northwestward from the Caribbean into southeastern North America.

[112] Similar dust plumes originate in the Gobi Desert, which combined with pollutants, spread large distances downwind, or eastward, into North America.

[115] Spring storm systems moving across the eastern Mediterranean Sea cause dust to carry across Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, which are locally known as Khamsin.

[122] Plant varieties near the coast, such as the Sitka spruce and sea grape,[123] are pruned back by wind and salt spray near the coastline.

Using a mechanical sandblaster in a laboratory setting, scientists affiliated with the Agricultural Research Service studied the effects of windblown sand abrasion on cotton seedlings.

In the coldest climates such as Antarctica, emperor penguins use huddling behavior to survive the wind and cold, continuously alternating the members on the outside of the assembled group, which reduces heat loss by 50%.

[147] Sunlight warms the ground during the day and causes air currents to travel uphill, and downhill during the night as the land cools.

[148] United States wildfire operations revolve around a 24-hour fire day that begins at 10:00 a.m. because of the predictable increase in intensity resulting from the daytime warmth.

[150] The hydrodynamic wind within the upper portion of a planet's atmosphere allows light chemical elements such as hydrogen to move up to the exobase, the lower limit of the exosphere, where the gases can then reach escape velocity, entering outer space without impacting other particles of gas.

[153] Other phenomena caused by the solar wind include geomagnetic storms that can knock out power grids on Earth,[157] the aurorae such as the Northern Lights,[158] and the plasma tails of comets that always point away from the Sun.

[165] On Uranus, northern hemisphere wind speeds reach as high as 240 meters per second (540 mph) near 50 degrees north latitude.