How does the Coriolis Effect effect the globalk weather?

Question

How does the Coriolis Effect effect the globalk weather?

Answer 1

The Coriolis really plays a role in all global weather.  Though its influence is more subtle than water or sunshine to our weather, without it local climates would be entirely different.

It causes low pressure systems (cyclones) to rotate anti-clockwise (as viewed from above) in the northern hemisphere, and vice versa in the southern hemisphere.  Conversely, high pressure rotates clockwise (N Hemi).

If the earth rotated at a different speed (i.e. the length of a day was shorter or longer), the influence of the Coriolis would be much different.  Imagine a day lasting only 7 hours!  When would you get any sleep??

The Coriolis exerts a huge influence on monsoon seasons, for example, and if it was different, so would be the vegetation and animal species in Africa and India.  All over the globe, for that matter.

Tropical cyclones (hurricanes, etc.) would not exist without any Coriolis Effect, at least in any form familiar to us.  That begs the question as to what sort of other mechanism the troposphere would employ to distribute that equatorial heat toward the poles, but that's not pertinent to your question.

The desert southwest of the USA might not be a desert at all.  Tornado Alley would not exist as we know it.

But, that's not to say that the Coriolis Effect causes violent weather.  Without it, we don't know what the weather would be like.  It might be even more violent, but in a different way.

Answer 2

Relentless interaction between the heat of the sun and the earth's atmosphere is behind weather development. When heating is not uniform all through a complex system of wind flows is generated. Air circulation produced by the atmosphere subjected to solar heat has three main forms.

The circulation of air near the tropics is called Hadley cells named after George Hadley, the scientist. Between 23.5 degrees latitude south and north, i.e., in the tropics the air rises having been heated. As it meets the tropopause it fans out while at about thirty degrees south and north a great part of this air drops back towards the ground. When it drops it removes air while to complete the cycle the removed air returns back towards the equator.

From thirty to sixty degrees north and south similar circulation known as Ferrel cells occur while in the polar regions polar Hadley cells flow.

But a straight north-south direction these air-flows do not follow and that is interesting enough. What is known as Coriolis effect is due to the earth's rotation. In the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere any fluid or object that moves freely seems to turn to the left or right respectively to the direction of motion. Since Gustavo-Gaspard de Coriolis first identified it in 1835 the Curiolis effect is named after him.

To an area of low pressure air tends to flow but deflection of air in this case is due to the Coriolis effect. By creating a circular movement, or a cyclonic flow an equilibrium it establishes ultimately. In the Northern Hemisphere, such as places like Elche and Altea in Spain, air flows in a counter-clockwise direction in low pressure areas while in the Southern Hemisphere the direction is clockwise. But around high pressure areas the air flow is just the reverse to it.

Had there been no rotation of the earth the pressure would have been equalized fast since air flow of air would be quick and along straight lines. At the equator the Coriolis effect is precisely zero. For this reason, on the equator cyclones hardly occur or travel to the same. Most logically at the poles Coriolic effect reaches its maximum.