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Wind-Driven Circulation
WIND-DRIVEN CIRCULATION (WDC) refers to ocean currents initiated and propelled by winds blowing across the surface of the ocean. Wind-driven circulation is part of the complex system of energy and heat redistribution that helps to draw tropical heat away from equatorial regions to moderate the earths climate.
Wind Generation
Wind is caused by the uneven solar heating of the Earths surface, which creates areas of high and low atmospheric pressure. Pressure differentials cause air to circulate from areas of high to low pressure. Solar heating is greatest near the equator, causing a region of low pressure. Rising air moves northward as cooler air from high pressure, mid-latitude regions moves towards the equator. The Coriolis Effect, the rotational action of the earth spinning on its access, deflects the ...
- Atmospheric Sciences
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- Oceanography
- Agulhas Current
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- Somali Current
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- Wind-Driven Circulation
- Paleoclimates
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- Earth's Climate History
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- Paleozoic Era
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- People
- Arakawa, Akio
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- Bolin, Bert
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- Bryan, Kirk
- Bryson, Reid
- Budyko, Mikhail
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- Charney, Jule Gregory
- Croll, James
- Fourier, Joseph
- Gore, Albert, Jr.
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- Hansen, James
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- Lindzen, Richard
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- Manabe, Syukuro
- Milankovitch, Milutin
- Munk, Walter
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- Revelle, Roger
- Richardson, Lewis Fry
- Rossby, Carl-Gustav
- Schneider, Stephen H.
- Singer, S. Fred
- Smagorinsky, Joseph
- Stommel, Henry
- Sverdrup, Harald Ulrik
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- Von Neumann, John
- Walker, Gilbert
- Washington, Warren
- Programs and Conventions
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