What is the importance of convection currents to wind?
Convection currents are those rising flows caused by heating or falling flows caused by cooling in liquids or gases. In air a rising current may be caused by local heating from dark soil or heated buildings. Convection currents caused by cooling are much less obvious, but take place in the upper atmosphere when heated air is carried up and instead of leveling out in a layer cools and falls. Local heating can cause a local wind as air flows in to replace the rising heated air. This is most often seen near a dark plowed field absorbing heat while surrounded by green fields that radiate less heat. It can also be seen at a large lake or sea shore where a daily onshore breeze occurs as the land heats faster than the ocean in the morning and a daily off shore breeze as the land cools faster than the ocean after sunset. Convection currents become critical in making winds when warm moist (high humidity) air rises and cools. Condensing water vapor in the cooling air gives off a great deal of he
