SEW - Wind Lesson

 

Wind

Wind is the horizontal movement of the air, in the form of a current, blowing from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Because air is fluid it can easily be moved from place to place by a force in the form of wind. Wind is caused by a difference in air pressure which is the force that is the result of the weight of a column of air pushing down on an area.

Local Winds

Have you ever noticed that when you are by the ocean that there may be a cool breeze blowing in from the water towards the shore? This is an example of local wind. Local wind is wind that blows over a short distance and is caused by the unequal heating in a small area.

Examples of local wind include sea and land breezes. These breezes are an important factor in maintaining the stable temperatures found in coastal areas. The sun warms the sea more slowly than the land. As the temperature of the land rises, the air over the land heats up by conduction. The warm air is less dense and rises. The cooler air from the sea, with a higher air pressure flows toward the area of lower pressure. This creates a cool breeze, a type of local breeze.

In the evening, an opposite action can be seen. Land cools off more quickly than the water. This change in temperature causes the daytime breeze to stop. When the land cools below the water's temperature, the pressure over the water becomes lower than that of the land. The air on land will move over the ocean causing another type of local breeze, a wind breeze.

 

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE