Wind

weather · air · energy · motion

Sun's unequal heating. The sun doesn't heat all parts of Earth equally, so some air warms up more than others and starts to move, creating wind.

Many different timescales. Some winds last just minutes during a thunderstorm, others blow gently for hours on a hot afternoon, and some giant wind patterns circle the whole Earth.

Global wind patterns. Because different parts of Earth receive different amounts of solar energy, winds develop on a massive scale and help spread heat around the planet.

Anemology is wind science. Scientists who study wind are called anemologists, and they measure and understand how air moves in our atmosphere.

Local versus global. A small breeze over a warm beach is wind, but so are huge trade winds that have shaped shipping routes and history for centuries.