Download What is wind?

Unit 3 Lesson 3 Wind in the Atmosphere
Blow It Out!
What is wind?
• Wind is the movement of air caused by
differences in air pressure.
• Warm air rises, creating areas of low pressure.
Cool air sinks, creating areas of high pressure.
• Air moves from areas of higher pressure toward
areas of lower pressure.
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Unit 3 Lesson 3 Wind in the Atmosphere
• There are some constant movement of air through
earth.
• This movement is due to the rotation of the earth
around the sun.
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Unit 3 Lesson 3 Wind in the Atmosphere
How does Earth’s rotation affect wind?
• Earth rotates, causing winds to be deflected, or
curved.
• The apparent curving of the path of a moving
object from an otherwise straight path due to
Earth’s rotation is called the Coriolis effect.
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Unit 3 Lesson 3 Wind in the Atmosphere
Blowin’ Around
What are examples of global winds?
• Global winds are wind systems that occur at or
near Earth’s surface for a long distance covering a
large area of earth.
What are examples of global winds?
• Jet streams are narrow belts of high-speed winds
that blow from west to east, between 7 km and
16 km above Earth’s surface.
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Unit 3 Lesson 3 Wind in the Atmosphere
Feelin’ Breezy
What are examples of local winds?
• Local winds are the movement of air over short
distances. They can blow from any direction.
• The wind is known by the direction from where it
is coming from.
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