What Does wind Mean
Wind (from Latin ventus ) is the current of air that is produced in the atmosphere by natural causes. The wind, therefore, is a meteorological phenomenon originated in the movements of rotation and translation of the Earth .
Solar radiation generates temperature differences in the atmosphere, which gives rise to pressure differences and air movement. Wind speed can be used to produce energy (known as wind ), but it is also dangerous as it can topple large buildings. The displacement of seeds and erosion are other consequences of the action of the winds.
For example: “There is a lot of wind; it is not convenient to go sailing ” , “ The day is beautiful: lots of sun and no wind ” .
The first instrument created to detect the direction the wind is blowing was the weather vane . It is a rotating device with a cross that indicates the cardinal points and is usually located in high places. A more advanced tool is the anemometer , which also measures wind speed and helps predict the weather.
According to its intensity, the wind can receive different names. The mildest winds are known as breezes , while the strongest winds are tornadoes . All of these terms, however, have a more specific scientific meaning that is often overlooked by everyday language.
Finally, it is known as the solar wind, the flow of particles emitted by the atmosphere of a star . Most of these particles are high-energy protons.
Air movement
The displacement of air in the troposphere (lower area of the atmosphere) is the most significant for people and has two components: the vertical , of 10 or more kilometers and whose upward or downward movement compensates for the horizontal, and the horizontal , which it reaches thousands of kilometers and is the most important of the two. The observation of a tornado is very adequate to understand these concepts, since while its eddy begins rotating at a considerable speed, with the known destructive consequences, and it decreases as the wind rises, since the dimensions of the cone increase the width.
It is worth mentioning that these statements, obtained from the study of tornadoes, are also true for all types of wind, since they are part of the various processes that they go through. The same transition that occurs in this case, from a linear movement to a rotating one that rises vertically, can be seen in eddies as well as in hurricanes and cumulonimbus, with certain differences in size and extension.
On the other hand, there are the winds that cover important distances, which also go through this process. A clear example is the trade winds, which travel between the equator and the tropics , going from the northwest to the southwest and vice versa, crossing the northern and southern hemispheres. When they are at the equator, they suffer a forced ascent, mainly due to the high concentration of matter, and they generate clouds and heavy rains, which results in a great decrease in speed.
When the rising air cools and loses the humidity that it carried, due to condensation and rain, the result is a dry and cold air. The lower the temperature, the more weight; consequently, it tends to descend towards the surface in an inclined movement that begins at the equator and moves towards the tropics, deviating to the right to finally complete the cycle of the trade winds. In this way, the principle of conservation of matter is fulfilled, according to studies carried out by Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, an 18th century French chemist and biologist.