Where does wind come from?

[bluesmartiew]

I was wondering where wind came from. Is it caused by gases or some thing like that, or by movement? If the planet was just a ball of rock with nothing on it and nothing moving, would there still be wind?

[mr_pointment]

Wind is the movement of air set up by the unequal heating of the earth's surface by the sun. The movement of air is in the form of a convection current. When air next to the earth is heated, it expands and becomes lighter. This warmer, lighter air is pushed up by the colder, heavier air that surrounds it. The colder, heavier air now is heated and becomes lighter, being pushed up in turn by more cold, heavy air that surrounds it. This process continues until there is a steady flow of air, called a convection current, with warm air rising and cold air falling. Cold air is heavier so it exerts a greater pressure than warm air. Winds are formed when cold air from high pressure areas move to low pressure areas where the air is warmer.

then again,it might just be the beans you ate.

[bluesmartiew]

thanks, thats been bothering me for ages.

mr_pointment, it isn't the beans i ate, i don't like them lol ;)

[mibn2cweus]

Wasn't me! c�>

holds nose and runs from self

[SteveD]

It used to be thought that wind was caused by the movement of the trees.

I like that concept!

[Mudman]

It was on the News (so it must be true) that the Himilayan Mountains are still rising at such a rate that they are producing 'drag' on the global air currents and it's going to change the worlds climate!

And we're all going to die!

Again!

[Mudman]

And that US Air Force b52 bombers had been, for some time, attempting to reverse the damage allready caused by this freak phenomena.