Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

The three types of heat transfer in the atmosphere are conduction, convection, and radiation. Conduction is when heat energy directly transfers from one substance to another. An example of conduction would be when air comes into contact with the warm ground the air is heated. Soil, water, and air and poor conductors of heat, however, so conduction has a minimal effect in heating the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Another type of heat transfer is convection. Convection is when heat is transferred through a liquid (gas or liquid) such as air. An example of convection would be the air near the earths surface is heated is gets less dense and rises while cooler air from above sinks. The last type of heat transfer is radiation. Radiation is when heat energy is transferred through empty space. Radiation does not need a solid, liquid or gas to go through so it can travel through a vacuum. An example of radiation would be when heat from the sun travels to the earth. These are the three ways for heat to be transferred.

Wind

Recently in Science we have been learning about wind. Wind is caused by changes of temperature in the atmosphere; land heats up faster than water but water holds temperature better than land. The two major types of wind are global winds and local winds. Global winds go in a particular direction while local winds can blow any way. One type of global winds are trade winds. Trade winds are warm, steady breezes that occur between 0-30 degrees latitude. When the trade winds coming from the north and the south meet they create an area of calm around the equator called the doldrums. Between 30-60 degrees latitude are the prevailing westerlies that cause most of the weather in the United States and Canada. At around 60 degrees latitude are the polar easterlies where the atmosphere cools causing cold winds. The directions of the global winds are often determined by the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is caused by the earths rotations and makes things in the northern hemisphere veer to the right and things in the southern hemisphere to veer to the left. However, local winds are caused when the atmosphere is heated unequally and can go in any direction not just one. Land breezes cause sea breezes and land breezes. Either way, wind is a big part of our everyday lives.