How does prevailing winds influence climate

Latitude and angles of the suns rays. Polar regions experience the greatest variation, with long periods of limited or no sunlight in winter and up to 24 hours of daylight in the summer. Topography The Topography of an area can greatly influence our climate. Mountain ranges are natural barriers to air movement.

In California, winds off the Pacific ocean carry moisture-laden air toward the coast. The Coastal Range allows for some condensation and light precipitation. Inland, the taller Sierra Nevada range rings more significant precipitation in the air. On the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, sinking air warms from compression, clouds evaporate, and dry conditions prevail. Climate can be affected by mountains.

Mountains receive more rainfall than low lying areas because as air is forced over the higher ground it cools, causing moist air to condense and fall out as rainfall. The higher the place is above sea level the colder it will be. This happens because as altitude increases, air becomes thinner and is less able to absorb and retain heat.

That is why you may see snow on the top of mountains all year round. The distance from the equator affects the climate of a place. At the poles, energy from the sun reaches the Earth's surface at lower angles and passes through a thicker layer of atmosphere than at the equator. This means the climate is cooler further from the Equator. The poles also experience the greatest difference between summer and winter day lengths: in the summer there is a period when the sun does not set at the poles; conversely the poles also experience a period of total darkness during winter.

In contrast, daylength varies little at the equator. The warmer water pumps energy and moisture into the atmosphere, altering global wind and rainfall patterns. The phenomenon has caused tornadoes in Florida, smog in Indonesia, and forest fires in Brazil. The factors above affect the climate naturally. However, we cannot forget the influence of humans on our climate. Early on in human history our effect on the climate would have been quite small.

However, as populations increased and trees were cut down in large numbers, so our influence on the climate increased. Trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. A reduction in trees will therefore have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These gases are found in layers troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere defined by unique features such as temperature and pressure.

The atmosphere protects life on earth by shielding it from incoming ultraviolet UV radiation, keeping the planet warm through insulation, and preventing extremes between day and night temperatures. The sun heats layers of the atmosphere causing it to convect driving air movement and weather patterns around the world.

Teach your students about the Earth's atmosphere with the resources in this collection. Wind is the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun. Wind energy is produced by the movement of air wind and converted into electricity. A massive wind-power project aims to take advantage of the consistently strong winds near Lake Turkana, Kenya, to bring electricity to the region. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

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Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. The wind doesn't flow directly up, because the Earth rotates.

This rotation causes the wind to have a higher speed in the Eastern direction relative to the ground at high latitudes see Coriolis effect , which results in a variety of prevailing winds. The trade winds seen in Figure 1 are created by hot air flowing up and away from the equator, where it gradually cools until it gets to latitudes of about 30 degrees.

It then sinks down towards the surface and flows back towards the low-pressure zone at the equator. These flows are known as Hadley cells , named after George Hadley who first described them in Not all of the air moves back towards the equator though.

When the air reaches approximately 60 degrees latitude North or South , it meets cold air from the poles. These winds are known as the Westerlies.