How are the winds born?

Winds are created by the effect of solar energy. Don’t worry, we’ll explain everything to you.

To understand, let’s first make a postulate. The Sun rises and then heats the lands and seas . But it does not increase their temperatures in the same way.

For the terrestrial part, the star overheats the desert areas , where it will be more discreet behind a cloudy veil – take the example of Brittany. Likewise, at sea, the Sun stirs up the tropical areas but takes longer to warm up the icy sea off the Brittany coast.

These differences in temperature on the earth’s surface will create forces . A hot air will create an area of ​​low pressure, called “depression”. A cold area will create an area of ​​high pressure, called a “high pressure area” .

Particle movements

Second basic principle, air is made up of molecules . These move towards the areas where the pressure is less strong, that is to say the hottest areas. Also, hot particles are lighter. They therefore tend to rise. On the contrary, the cold will go down. These movements are the wind.

Let us be more explicit. The Sun heats up lands and seas, except that the temperatures of the earth warm up more quickly than those of the sea. The air particles will therefore move from the sea to the land, forming sea breezes .

Once on land, the molecules will heat up and fly away , creating a continuous flow: the wind. Then at sunset , the earth cools faster than the sea. The particles will do the opposite, forming breezes coming from the continent .

Influenced by terrestrial phenomena

Finally, there is a third postulate: the rotation and the revolution of the terrestrial globe . The blue planet revolves around the Sun in 365 days. Its axis implies that the poles receive less light than the equator, and the northern hemisphere receives more rays in summer than in winter . However, these changes in exposure shift the pressure zones on the surface of the globe.

In addition, the rotation of the Earth in 24 hours causes the same phenomenon.That the periods of monsoons are observed at a given period in Asia. Or that tornadoes act more in winter than in summer, etc.

And this is how the winds are born. Air particles attracted by heat are wandered between areas of varying degrees of pressure. All influenced by the movement of our planet. It wasn’t that complicated, right? There you have it, now you know everything.