Wind refers to large-scale flows of atmospheric gases moving in the same direction and, as a rule, at the same speed. In meteorology, types of winds are primarily classified by direction of movement, speed, spatial scale, forces causing them, regional affiliation and environmental impact. These air currents play a very significant role in the life of mankind, since for many centuries and millennia they have served as a source of clean energy (sailing fleet, balloons, windmills , etc.).
Types of winds also vary in duration. So, short streams lasting up to several seconds, having a high speed, are usually called gusts, and even stronger and longer streams are called squalls. Long winds may vary depending on the strength, direction, scale and some other parameters that distinguish breezes (coastal winds), storms, storms, hurricanes, typhoons and others.
All types of winds have their own purely individual characteristics, according to which meteorologists identify them. For example, a characteristic feature of the breeze is a change of direction twice a day. Winds are not only short-term, they can be seasonal, that is, show stability for several months. These atmospheric phenomena include monsoons. And the trade winds are generally constant and stable.
Almost all types of winds are the most important and integral part of the planet’s ecosystem, a key relief-forming factor of its geological evolution. They take an active part in the processes of soil formation, cause erosion of rocks, which significantly changes the appearance of the surface of the planet. Air flows also carry the seeds of various plants, thereby contributing to their wider distribution.
The wind, being one of the most powerful elements of our planet, had a huge impact on all aspects of the development of human civilization. For many peoples of the globe, the winds were cult or divine characters of mythology and epic, the main inspirers of poets and writers. Even in ancient times, when too much depended on the manifestations of this element in people's lives, a wind direction indicator was invented - a weather vane, a modern version of which is called an anemometer.
Often these atmospheric phenomena predetermined historical events, expanded the range of trade relations and cultural exchanges between ancient countries. They were the driving forces of various mechanisms and inexhaustible sources of energy. Air currents allowed a person to rise to the sky for the first time, without them the invention of a parachute would not make sense. By the strength of its influence, winds are comparable only with the energy of the Sun and the water element.
But, like any natural phenomenon, the winds carry not only progress and development, but also destruction and death. They contribute to the spread of forest fires, the disturbances caused by them in water bodies lead to the destruction of various hydraulic and other structures. Raging tornadoes and tornadoes are always accompanied not only by tremendous destruction, but also by human victims. The impact of this climatic effect is associated with such a dangerous natural phenomenon as sandstorms.
But the wind is not a purely terrestrial atmospheric effect. The largest winds in the solar system, thousands of times superior in strength to their most destructive terrestrial counterparts, are recorded on the surface of the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter. In outer space, a version of this powerful and extremely destructive element is also rampant - the solar wind, which is a gigantic and deadly stream of ionized radioactive particles. It is to him that we owe such a phantasmagoric phenomenon as the northern lights. Faced with the Earth’s magnetosphere near the poles, this unusually powerful stream of solar radiation makes it glow.