Where Does the Energy Come From Which Makes Wind Blow?
What Makes Wind? Wind is the movement of air over the surface of land or water. This movement is affected by many different things, but the largest factor is heat convection. The largest factors affecting heat convection are the elevation and the sun. What is Convection? When sunlight reaches the surface of the earth, it warms that part of the surface. The surface then radiates heat, warming up the air near it. Warm air rises. As the warm air rises, it leaves a low pressure area nearer to the earth. Colder air sinks to fill that low pressure area. As the air reaches higher elevations, it begins to cool. Eventually, it will grow colder than the air below it and will begin to sink into the low pressure areas left by more recently warmed air. This cycle is called convection. How Does Convection Make Wind? Wind is basically moving air. Convection is when warm air rises and cold air sinks in a cycle of heating and cooling. Put simply, convection doesn’t make the wind, convection is the wind
