What does wind current mean?

What does wind current mean?

a wind current: a flow of air.

What is an example of wind currents?

Winds also help drive ocean surface currents around the world. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current transports cold, nutrient-rich water around Antarctica. The Gulf Stream brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico up the East Coast of North America and across the Atlantic to Northern Europe.

What is a wind driven current called?

Wind driven circulation describes the process in which winds moving along the surface of the ocean push the water in their direction and create currents near the surface. There are many large circulating patterns in the open ocean, driven by the Coriolis Effect. These ciruclating patterns are called gyres.

What is the air current called?

Air Currents Moving air is called wind. Air currents are winds that move in a riverlike flow in a certain direction.

What is the difference between wind and current?

Air that moves horizontally along the earth’s surface is called wind. The temperature and humidity varies in the wind system. Air current: The vertical or nearly vertical movement of air is referred to as air current.

How does an air current work?

Air currents are caused by the sun’s uneven heating of the Earth. As the Earth’s surface is heated, it warms the air just above it. The warmed air expands and becomes lighter than the surrounding air. It rises, creating a warm air current.

What is the largest wind-driven current on earth?

the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Notorious among sailors for its strength and the rough seas it creates, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the largest wind-driven current on Earth and the only ocean current to travel all the way around the planet. Now, researchers have found that the current transports 30% more water than previously thought.

What is called air current?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In meteorology, air currents are concentrated areas of winds. They are mainly due to differences in atmospheric pressure or temperature. They are divided into horizontal and vertical currents; both are present at mesoscale while horizontal ones dominate at synoptic scale.

What is the difference between wind and currents?

As nouns the difference between wind and current is that wind is (countable|uncountable) real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure or wind can be the act of winding or turning; a turn; a bend; a twist while current is the part of a fluid that moves continuously in a certain direction.

What type of currents are caused by the wind?

Surface currents are usually caused by the wind. As the wind changes, the current may change as well. Currents are also influenced by the rotation of the Earth called the Coriolis effect. This causes currents to flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere .

What causes wind and currents?

The horizontal and vertical circulation of ocean waters are called currents. Major causes of ocean currents include wind friction, gravity, and variation in water density in different parts of the ocean. The Role of Wind. Surface ocean currents are mainly caused by wind.

What are wind currents and ocean currents?

Wind-driven currents are maintained by momentum transferred by the winds to the ocean surface. Ocean the wind sets the surface waters in motion as a current, the Coriolis force, the density distribution of sea water, and the shape of the ocean basin modify the speed and direction of the current.