Wind is the movement of air caused by the sun's uneven heating of Earth

Differences in pressure and temperature between atmospheric gases create wind

Because Earth's surface is not uniformly heated by the sun at all times, pockets of warmer and cooler air will form and interact. Warmer pockets of less dense air will rise, leaving gaps for cooler, denser air to move in. Wind is this movement of air from high-pressure to low-pressure areas.

Trade winds blow from east to west due to the Coriolis Effect

Warm air rises near the equator while cooler air sinks near the poles, creating circulation patterns that curve due to Earth's rotation. At the equator, doldrums—calm regions of no wind—build warm, moist air, creating storms.

Hurricanes spin due to differences in air and ground speed as they move across Earth

The movement of an object across latitudes causes it to take a curved trajectory because its speed no longer matches that of the ground beneath it. This phenomenon, called the Coriolis effect, explains why hurricanes spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

An overview of Earth's atmospheric cells and how they distribute Earth's uneven heating

The Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar cells are circulation patterns that act like gears, moving warmer air from the equator to the poles. The rising and falling of air currents within these patterns creates semi-persistent regions of low and high pressure, which contribute to the formation of regional climates, such as tropical zones.

Why we have different seasons

Visualize just how exactly seasons come to be with this animation of the earth in relation to the sun, and see how earth's tilt determines our seasons.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

The sun emits a continuous stream of plasma known as the solar wind

Composed of charged particles—electrons and ions—the solar wind is deflected around the Earth by the planet's magnetic field. More powerful solar storms, known as coronal mass ejections, are short-lived but produce huge clouds of plasma that disrupt technology upon reaching Earth.

If the Earth stopped spinning, 85% of the world's population would experience supersonic winds

The planet's equator moves about 470 meters per second—over 1,000 miles per hour—and air there would continue moving at this speed for several minutes if the ground stopped rotating. These conditions would cause tsunamis, global storms, and fling debris fast enough to destroy nearly all human-made structures.

Wind energy 101

Learn more about the wind industry, from how a wind turbine works, to the new and exciting research in the field of wind energy.

Monsoons are large, seasonal shifts in wind driven by land-sea heating differences

Because land heats and cools faster than water, pressure differences form and create significant sea breezes. Moist air pulled onto land rises, condenses, and leads to substantial summer rainfall.

Tornado formation relies on wind shear to create a tube of rotating air

Once a horizontal vortex is created by air circulating between winds of different directions and speeds, an updraft, such as those seen in powerful thunderstorms, tilts the vortex vertically. The updraft then strengthens the vortex, which becomes a tornado upon touching the ground.

Earth's smooth, continuous motion as it orbits the sun prevents detectable motion

Although humans are sensitive to acceleration, Earth's nearly circular orbit around the sun and its slow spin relative to its size produce negligibly small, minimally changing accelerations. However, the changing seasons and the day-night cycle are evidence of Earth's movement through space, as verified by satellites and telescopes.

Movement of molten metal around its solid inner core creates Earth's magnetic field

According to the geodynamo process, the rotation of the planet and the looping, convective flow of electrically conductive iron and nickel produce dynamic electric currents, which generate a self-sustaining magnetic field. This is unlike natural, stationary magnets, which possess a static field created when the metal cooled and its atoms aligned with Earth's magnetic field.

How geometry and uneven charge distribution make some molecules greenhouse gases

Molecules vibrate and rotate with different frequencies based on their elemental composition and shape, which can produce uneven distributions of electrons, as seen in carbon dioxide and water. The resulting unbalanced electric field can interact with electromagnetic waves of the same frequency, causing the molecule to absorb the radiation.

Explaining why the Earth wobbles

Astronomers going back to Hipparchus in the 2nd century BCE have noticed our planet has a distinct wobble. More recently, scientists have observed that the Earth is 26 miles wider at the equator than from pole to pole. The wobble results from our...

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Some tectonic plates move faster than their underlying convection currents

Like a chain slipping off a ledge, as tectonic plates sink, their weight can pull the rest of the trailing plate forward, accelerating their movement. Plates can also break apart and fall, creating a suction effect that drives movement, resembling leaves following a passing car.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

The history of helioseismology, which studies seismic waves traveling within the sun

Following World War II, scientists began studying the sun's influence on radio waves, the most popular form of mass communication at the time. NASA missions to study the sun's interior have since helped develop explanations for various phenomena in its atmosphere and protect digital infrastructure.

Windmills can be designed to pump groundwater for irrigation or land drainage

A gearbox within the windmill converts the windmill's rotation into the vertical motion of a piston that pushes water up a pipe. It also drives the rotation of an Archimedes screw to move water to higher elevations.

Accurate climate models incorporate calculus to account for complex feedback loops

The simplest models assume uniformity across the Earth, with incoming energy from the sun being offset by the planet's albedo, or reflectiveness, which prevents the radiation from being fully absorbed. Incorporating elements such as atmospheric layers, latitude bands, geographic variability, and emissivity yields coupled differential equations quantifying Earth's interconnected systems.

The moon's gravity pulls water from Earth's poles to produce tides

By attracting all parts of the Earth to varying degrees based on their distance from it, the moon produces an overall pressure that drives water toward the opposite sides of the Earth along the Earth-moon axis, not unlike how squeezing a grape causes it to bulge. This creates high tides along the axis on opposite sides of the Earth and low tides along the perpendicular axis. Without significant water to displace, most lakes do not experience noticeable tides.

From evaporation to precipitation: An overview of the water cycle

The water cycle is a natural process that continuously circulates water throughout Earth's systems. View this diagram from NASA to understand how the water cycle incorporates evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and more. First, the sun's heat...

Wind chill speeds up the loss of heat from the body

During cold weather conditions, strong winds against exposed skin can produce a sensation of temperature colder than the surrounding air temperature. The accelerated loss of body heat increases the risk of frostbite and hypothermia, with frostbite able to set in as quickly as five minutes.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

Wind helps trees develop resistance to collapse

Scientists at Biosphere 2 found that trees grew faster in the facility than those in the wild but collapsed more quickly when replanted outdoors. Researchers uncovered that trees build resistance when pushed and pulled due to wind stress, strengthening their foundational root systems.

As of 2022, just 0.5% of installed renewable energy capacity worldwide is geothermal

Despite being able to generate electricity regardless of the weather, solar (28%) and wind (27%) are far more prevalent, primarily because of their lower upfront costs. Geothermal plants use 88% less space than solar farms to produce the same energy, but have been restricted to geologically active regions.

Vertigo is a mismatch of information between the eyes and the ears

Both vertigo and motion sickness can be caused by mismatches between visual and auditory inputs.The brain relies on inputs from the eyes, inner ear, and receptors in muscles and joints to orient the body. When the eyes suggest movement but other signals suggest the body is stationary dizziness and nausea can occur.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.