First of all, it is important to note that the winds emanate from storms. Bearing this is in mind, it is worthwhile to understand what is a storm is. The earth which we live in is covered by air. Air like any other forms of matter has weight and at the same time occupies space, which means that it has volume. The air covering the earth is not static, but keeps on moving based on environmental factors such as temperatures, earth’s rotation, and the revolution of the earth’s orbit around the sun which creates the various seasons that are experienced throughout the year (McIlveen, 1992, p.189). Of all these factors temperature is the most important in dictating the weather. When temperatures are high, it results in the creation of hot air. Hot air has a lower density compared to cold air. Cold air in most cases originates at the polar ends of the earth, while hot air originates at the earth’s equator and the tropics. When hot air and cold air interact, hot air tends to rise above cold air as a result of the fact that hot air has a lower density (Christopherson, 1994, p.66). Therefore, when cold air originating from the earth’s polar ends moves towards the equator and the tropics it meets with warm air from the equator and the tropics. When both cold and warm air collides, warm air rises above the cold air.
This results in the creation of a low pressure zone at the boundary of the warm and cold air masses. As a result of the high density cold air, cold air mass is able to rush to occupy the low pressure zone leading the displacement of more warm air upwards. This continuous displacement of warm air by cold air creates a cycle (Gabler, 2009, p.121). Considering that the earth is rotating the movement of cold air and warm air creates winds, which in large magnitude becomes storms. Therefore, storms are created by the changes in air pressure, which is caused by the movement of cold and warm air. When the air pressure is low, it is more likely for the creation of stormy weather. However, as the movement of collision and movement of cold and warm air continue either cold or warm air is dispersed thereby creating equilibrium in the air pressure. The creation of equilibrium creates a calm weather with lesser winds.
References
Christopherson, R. W. (1994).Geo-systems: an introduction to physical geography (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishers.
Gabler, R. E. (2009). Physical geography (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
McIlveen, J. F. (1992). Fundamentals of weather and climate. London: Chapman & Hall.
