Global Wind Patterns
Explain that unequal solar heating drives large-scale atmospheric circulation: Hadley cells (0-30°), Ferrel cells (30-60°), and polar cells (60-90°) produce the trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies; describe how the Coriolis effect from Earth's rotation deflects winds rightward in the Northern Hemisphere; explain the jet stream as a fast high-altitude wind that steers weather systems; connect jet stream waviness and Arctic amplification to prolonged extreme weather
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Can your child explain why the UK tends to get wet weather arriving from the west — what global pattern of winds is steering weather systems, and how does Earth's rotation contribute to this?
Explain that unequal solar heating drives large-scale atmospheric circulation: Hadley cells (0-30°), Ferrel cells (30-60°), and polar cells (60-90°) produce the trade winds, westerlies, and polar easterlies; describe how the Coriolis effect from Earth's rotation deflects winds rightward in the Northern Hemisphere; explain the jet stream as a fast high-altitude wind that steers weather systems; connect jet stream waviness and Arctic amplification to prolonged extreme weather
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“Can your child explain why the UK tends to get wet weather arriving from the west — what global pattern of winds is steering weather systems, and how does Earth's rotation contribute to this?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Weather & Climate
- Age range
- Ages 11–13