Our world is surrounded by a blanket of gases called the atmosphere.

The densest part of the atmosphere is closest to the earth. This is called the troposphere.

The heat of the sun is distributed unevenly over the earth’s surface.

The temperature of any place depends largely on that place’s latitude.

Places near the equator are in low latitudes. Places far from the equator are in high latitudes. The farther a place is from the equator the cooler it

is likely to be.

Wind happens because the sun heats different parts of the Earth unequally.

The Sahara Desert is heated more than Ireland. When the surface of the Earth is heated, the air above it rises.

Other air rushes in to fill the empty space and wind is created.

It is the unequal heating of the atmosphere that causes winds to happen.

Air has weight – this is called atmospheric pressure. Warm Air is light and so it rises, this creates a low

atmospheric pressure. Cold air is heavy and so it falls down to earth

creating a high atmospheric pressure. Winds blow from areas of high pressure to areas of

low pressure.

Winds are named after the direction from which they blow.

Winds that blow from the equator are warm winds. Winds that blow from the higher latitudes towards the

equator are cool winds. The winds that are most common are called Prevailing

Winds.

The rotating Earth causes air currents to bend as the Earth moves “underneath” the Atmosphere

This creates the circular shape of storms in the Atmosphere