My CHILD wants to know: How Does The Earth Create Wind?

Question

i.e. why do we have calm air around us, then ferious blustery wind... What causes that to happen?

Simple answers only, please!
(Oh! & she says she is not talking about f..rts)
(so no dirty answers either, please!)
Thank you.

OK so hot air rises, it's replaced by cold air. I understand that. I don't understand what is meant by "pressure." Does that the volume of air? But none of that explains why you would get a sudden gust of wind... or does it? Duh, I'm sorry, but I'm really having a problem getting to grips with this one!

Answer 1

The Earth rotates and that's point one. Secondly, the sun, some areas get heat up but when it's night time, they cool down. Lastly, water becomes cloud, cloud becomes rain. All the above cause air flow.

Is this simple enough?

Answer 2

There are many factors that create wind, but the largest is the Coriolis effect. This is caused by the rotation of the earth and the friction created with the earth's surface with the air masses above. The Coriolis effect is the reason for the "general" westerly winds in the northern hemisphere and the "general" easterly winds in the southern hemisphere. Wind are also caused by two other main sources. Low and high pressure systems cause most wind. Here is the best way I can describe it: When you blow up a balloon and then let the air rush back out is, this demonstrates this well. The air in the balloon is under greater pressure than the pressure outside the balloon. This causes air to rush out of the balloon. The same goes to when you have a low pressure system. Air/wind rushes toward the lower pressure area because it is trying to equalize. Another source for wind is the hot/cold fronts. Hot air rises above cold air causing displacement, thus causing wind.

Answer 3

OK, you've got the idea that hot air rises and cooler air rushed to the spot where the hot air rose from (to replace it).

One concept which you may be able to put across is that the the hot air is rising where the sun is shining and heating the earth's surface. At midday the sun is heating your bit of the earth most.

Let's say that it's midday in Gemany, so Germany is being heated the most (out of the countries at about Germany's lattitude - ignore this qualification for simplicity's sake).

So lots of hot air is rising up into the sky in Germany, and cooler air is rushing towards Germany from all surrounding countries. Say from Denmark the air is rushing south to Germany.

An hour later it is 1 pm in Germany, and it is midday in England. So now England is being heated the most.

So now lots of hot air is rising in England, and air is rushing towards England from all surrounding countries.

But now from Denmark the air is not rushing south any more to Germany, it's rushing west to England.

You can see that this is constantly changing through the day, as the earth is rotating, so the place where it is midday keeps moving.

So air is constantly changing the direction it is rushing in.

That means air rushes and swirls in constantly changing directions, and with other factors (like those mentioned by other answerers), the whole thing gets very mixed up with air rushing all over the place. It is so mixed up that all the best computers in the world cannot tell us which way the wind will be blowing (or how strong it will blow) in the future.

This is by no means the definative reason, but it helps you to understand why wind blows, and why it blows in different directions, and you never know what wind will be blowing where next!

Answer 4

This is a good question but with all these answers I'm surprised you haven't gotten the facts spelled out for you. So here is the scientific answer. The Earth's winds are caused by temperature differences at the surface and through the atmosphere. These temperature differences caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis and it's elliptical orbit about the Sun, generate differences in pressure at different points in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface. And it is these pressure differences called pressure gradients that begin to move the air from where the pressure is high to where it is low. As the air begins this movement it is deflected by two additional forces. One of these is the Coriolis force which turn the air to the right as it begins moving along the pressure gradient. The other force is due to friction with the Earth's surface. Where the pressure gradient is very strong, that is to say, where the lines of equal pressure called isobars are very close to each other, the wind is very strong and gusty. All of these relationships (temperature, pressure, winds and the forces that act on them) can all be described mathematically. So I hope this helps a wee bit in your understanding. If not let me know. Ok?

Answer 5

Air (wind) moves both upward and down ward and from side to side. At different level in the atmoshere the wind moves at different speeds and different direction. Most of our wind is caused by high pressure and low pressure areas. High pressure systems will always move toward low pressure systems. When they do, they create wind. Without going into a lot of detail about corioilis affect and pressure gradients, these are some of the ways meteorologists forecast the winds. Here where I'm at in Colorado, if we're in the cold winter months and we have a warming trend, especially if it sudden, we will have wind created by thermal convection. Again, it's a matter of warm moving toward cold. Today it's supposed to be 62 degrees (F) with wind. the warm are is moving toward cold until it can't hold it's heat any longer. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

wind is a couple of things. never simple

1. sun shines down on ground, which has moisture, it rises, and you feel breezy.
2. atmosphere at higher elevations can be seriously windy like 200mph windy. although you may not feel this intensity, on the lower levels it does affect movement of slower winds.
3. you should study the ocean currents and then match it up with the cloud formations which has great relations to the way it evaporates
4. tornadoes/hurricanes/exotic cloud formations
5.. the list goes on.


But the point is everything is interrelated with another thing. So to say where does earth create wind, is wrong, it is a cycle. But I guess the most simple way to explain is to say if you spin in a circle like the earth, you can feel wind. But then all the other points come into play immediately.

Answer 7

Wind is caused by 1. the coriolis effect (rotation of earth) 2. friction and 3. differences in pressure. One of the main reasons that wind is strong at times is if there is a large difference in pressure. The air is then rushing to try to balance the high and low pressures.

Answer 8

As the sun warms the earth’s surface, the atmosphere warms too. Some parts of the earth receive direct rays from the sun all year and are always warm. Other places receive indirect rays, so the climate is colder. Warm air, which weighs less than cool air, rises. Then cool air moves in and replaces the rising warm air. This movement of air is what makes the wind blow.

Answer 9

It could come from any number of things, such as a passing cold front, a tight pressure gradient, or a moving storm system.

Where I live at in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, a HIGH WIND WARNING has been issued as a strong low pressure surface moves into Oklahoma and a powerful upper-level storm system moves into the plains, causing winds to blow at 30-40 MPH, with gusts as high as 50 MPH. If that's the case, avoid boating at the lakes, and secure all your light-weight outdoor objects.

Answer 10

1. God is not populating the Earth at all, mankind is. 2. There is lots of room on Earth for more people and even lots of resources to care for them. The problem is that the wealthy nations do not help the less fortunate nearly enough with food, clean water, schools, clothes, hospitals, technology, etc. 3. God will not permit man to destroy the Earth, He will intervene before that occurs. 4. The new Earth will not come until the old one is first burnt up with fire and is gone. 5. God has commanded us to care for and take care of creation. If climate change is true, and that is by no means certain, then it is entirely our own fault. 6. Yes, God is omnipotent, but He gave us free will. We either use that to obey His Word or we don't. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Every decision has consequences, either good or bad. God will allow us to experience that.