What direction does air move or flow at the equator?

What direction does air move or flow at the equator?

In the tropics, near the equator, warm air rises. When it gets about 10-15 km (6-9 miles) above the Earth surface it starts to flow away from the equator and towards the poles. Air that rose just north of the equator flows north. Air that rose just south of the equator flows south.

Why is it windy near the equator?

Differences in atmospheric pressure generate winds. At the Equator, the sun warms the water and land more than it does the rest of the globe. Warm equatorial air rises higher into the atmosphere and migrates toward the poles. This is a low-pressure system.

Which wind belt blows near the equator?

the trade winds
The global wind belts are the three wind belts or wind patterns that cover the planet: the tropical easterlies (or the trade winds) are found near the equator, the polar easterlies are found at the north and south poles, and the prevailing westerlies are found between the two.

Which direction do the winds blow at the equator quizlet?

3. The winds that blow toward the equator are turned west by the Coriolis effect. 4. Winds in the Northern Hemisphere between 30 degrees north latitude and the equator blow from the northeast.

Is there less wind near the equator?

The “doldrums” is a popular nautical term that refers to the belt around the Earth near the equator where sailing ships sometimes get stuck on windless waters. Because the air circulates in an upward direction, there is often little surface wind in the ITCZ.

Is it windy near the equator?

The air moving back toward the equator forms warm, steady winds, known as the trade winds. The rising air at the equatorial regions and the sinking air at about 30°N and 30°S form huge convection current, known as a Hadley cell for the English meteorologist who first proposed their existence to explain the trade winds.

Which of the following global winds form near the equator?

Near the equator, the trade winds converge into a broad east to west area of light winds. The area is known as the doldrums because there are light winds. This belt of air around the equator receives much of the sun’s radiant energy.

What blow steadily toward the equator?

Trade Winds
The Tropical Easterlies (Trade Winds) The tropical easterly wind belts near the equatorial region are also called the Trade Winds. Trade winds blow steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, or the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere (see Figures 8-30 and 8-31).

Why does water swirl down the drain?

Before opening the drain, the water already has some motion, although it might be too slow for you to notice. As the water moves toward the drain, its rotational motion gets amplified, i.e., it starts swirling faster (see Figure 1).

What does it mean when the wind blows north of the equator?

As the wind blows to about five degrees north and south of the equator, both air and ocean currents come to a halt in a band of hot, dry air. This 10-degree belt around Earth’s midsection is called the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, more commonly known as the doldrums.

What causes the winds to move from east to West?

The Coriolis Effect, in combination with an area of high pressure, causes the prevailing winds—the trade winds—to move from east to west on both sides of the equator across this 60-degree “belt.”.

Is the wind coming from the north or the south?

While watching a weather forecast, you will hear the meteorologist say something like, “We have a north wind coming in today.”. This does not mean that the wind is blowing toward the north, but the exact opposite. The ‘north wind’ is coming from the north and blowing toward the south.

How is the direction of the wind determined?

A cup anemometer or wind vane are used to measure wind speed and indicate direction. These instruments point into the wind so they would point north during a north wind. Likewise, winds don’t have to come directly from the north, south, east, or west.