Knowra Trade winds Trade winds Trade winds are persistent easterly winds that blow toward the equator across the tropics. They form as air flows from subtropical high-pressure belts toward the equatorial low and is deflected by Earth’s rotation.
Coriolis effect : The apparent deflection of moving objects caused by Earth’s rotation, directed rightward in the Northern Hemisphere and leftward in the Southern Hemisphere. It turns equatorward surface flow westward, producing the trades’ easterly direction.
Atlantic slave trade : The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Winds and currents influenced the routes and timing of transatlantic voyages.
George Hadley : An English lawyer and meteorologist who explained the trade winds through a circulation model in 1735. His model connected equatorward flow with Earth’s rotation and helped explain the winds’ direction.
El Niño : The warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, marked by unusually warm surface water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. El Niño weakens the Pacific trades and shifts tropical rainfall and ocean conditions.
Intertropical Convergence Zone : A near-equatorial belt where the trade winds converge and warm air rises. Its latitude marks where the opposing trade-wind systems meet and shifts seasonally.
Age of Sail : The period when sailing ships dominated long-distance maritime transport, warfare, and exploration. Reliable trade-wind routes helped connect Europe, Africa, and the Americas by sail.
Edmond Halley : An English astronomer and geophysicist who proposed a solar-heating explanation for the trade winds in 1686. His early account linked tropical heating to large-scale atmospheric motion.
La Niña : The cool phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, marked by unusually cool surface water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. La Niña is associated with stronger-than-usual Pacific trade winds.
Subtropical ridge : A belt of high atmospheric pressure near 30 degrees latitude, associated with descending air in the Hadley cells. Its pressure gradient drives surface air toward the equatorial low.
Ocean current : A sustained movement of seawater driven by wind, density differences, tides, or other forces. Trade winds transfer momentum to the ocean and help drive major surface currents.
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