Air Currents
1. Wind currents travel both north/south and east/west either between low pressure and high pressure zones (with
direction depending whether the wind is near Earth’s surface or at high altitude).
a. Explain the reason for the low and high pressure zones.
b. On the two maps below, connect the low and high pressure zones by curved arrows representing
horizontal wind.
Surface Currents
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High Altitude Currents
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c. Explain why the winds point the way you drew them.
d. On the map below, label the places most likely to have rain forests (RF), deserts (D), clockwise cyclones
(CW), and counterclockwise cyclones (CCW). Explain your reasoning.
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2. Each hemisphere on Earth has two high altitude jets.
a. Which of these contains the stronger air current? Explain. What does the curvature of Earth have to do
with it?
b. Which direction are each of the four jets pointed? Explain.
c. The rising of air at the equator does not produce a jet, while the rising of air nearer to the poles does.
Explain in detail why this is the case.
3. The heights (i.e. altitude) of the Hadley, Ferrel, and Polar cells are not the same. Draw these cells on the globe below
and explain their relative height (specifically, why is the tallest one so tall?).
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4. List a few properties of the air currents that will change if the earth warms up.
5. The result of global warming can itself produce more warming. For instance, the melting of ice will decrease Earth’s
albedo. Can you think of instances where changes in the global air patterns due to global warming could produce
further warming?