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💡 Winds that circle the globe
Heat piling up at the equator and cold sinking at the poles set up giant belts of high and low pressure — and the spinning Earth bends the resulting winds into curved paths.
What are planetary winds and pressure belts?
- Intense heating near the equator makes warm air rise (low-pressure belt); it sinks around 30° N and S, forming sub-tropical high-pressure belts .
- Air rising again near 60° makes sub-polar low-pressure belts, while very cold sinking air at the poles forms polar high-pressure belts — setting up circulation cells.
- The Earth’s rotation deflects these winds — to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern — so planetary winds follow curved paths.
Important Definitions
- Planetary winds — winds set in motion over long distances by the large-scale pressure differences between the equator and the poles.
- Pressure belt — a broad zone of low or high pressure — the equatorial low, the sub-tropical high, the sub-polar low and the polar high.
