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Yes, the energy driving the entire system comes from the Sun. But the fact that it takes the form of wind rather than rising/falling columns of air has to do wi
by btilly 3y ago
Yes, the energy driving the entire system comes from the Sun. But the fact that it takes the form of wind rather than rising/falling columns of air has to do with the rotation of the Earth.
Ditto for hurricanes. Hurricanes turn rising/falling air into cycling air into hurricane force winds because the Earth rotates. But the energy for it came from the Sun. Often removed by another factor, Sun warms ocean, ocean drives the storm.
- dredmorbius 3y agoWind is due to Earth's rotation much in the same way that airflow through ducts is due to the ducts. Earth's rotation directs the energy imbued by the Sun, much as ductwork directs airflow through a structure imbued by blower motors. But neither wind, nor ducted airflow, originate from, are driven by, or otherwise exhaust the Earth's rotation, or the containing ductwork, respectively. (Yes, there are frictional forces of the atmosphere against the Earth's surface. On balance these probably net out, as atmospheric flows at large scale are balanced, else we'd end up with a zone of vacuum and one of infinite pressure on the Earth's surface.) The original question was "How much [wind] is due to earth's rotation?", in the context of whether or not wind is a renewable energy resource. Given that wind is fundamentally driven by solar flux, wind is renewable, and it is not driven (vs. directed or influenced) in any meaningful way by Earth's rotation.