Coriolis Effect ✍️

It explains why objects moving across a rotating world seem to curve from their straight path, even when no visible force pushes them sideways. Imagine throwing a ball straight across a spinning merry-go-round. To someone standing still outside, the ball travels in a straight line. But to someone riding the spinning platform, the ball appears to bend away from its path.

The same thing happens on Earth because our planet is constantly rotating beneath everything that moves. Air currents, ocean flows, and even long-range projectiles travel over a surface that is turning while they move. This creates the illusion of a sideways force, known as the Coriolis effect.

In the Northern Hemisphere, moving objects appear to bend to the right, while in the Southern Hemisphere they bend to the left. The effect grows stronger over larger distances and faster motions, but becomes almost unnoticeable in small, everyday movements.

Scientists use this effect to understand the spinning of hurricanes, the paths of trade winds, and the circulation of oceans. It reveals that motion is not always as simple as it seems when the ground beneath us is constantly in motion itself.

#CoriolisEffect #EarthScience #Physics #ScienceFacts #Geography #Meteorology #ClimateScience #Atmosphere #OceanCurrents #WeatherScience #Hurricanes #TradeWinds #PlanetEarth #EarthRotation #ScienceEducation #STEM #LearnScience #ScientificKnowledge #ScienceExplained #NatureOfScience #PhysicalGeography #FluidDynamics #EarthSystems #ScienceLovers #DidYouKnow #EducationalContent #KnowledgeSharing #CuriousMinds #ScienceCommunication #ExploreScience

In 2025, for the first time in recorded history, there was no upwelling in the Bay of Panama. Normally, trade winds disturb the warm top layer of the sea, allowing cold water to bring up nutrients from the depths. Last year the bay didn't breathe.
#climatechange
#tropics
#tradewinds
https://stri.si.edu/story/upwelling-failure
Upwelling Failure

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Each year between January and April, a blob of cold water rises from the depths of the #GulfOfPanama to the surface, playing an essential role in supporting #marine life in the region. But this year, it never arrived.

When the #tradeWinds reach the Gulf of Panama they push hot surface water away from the coast, which makes room for cold water to rise from the deep.

#upwelling #coldBlob
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/climate/pacific-cold-water-upwelling.html
An Annual Blast of Pacific Cold Water Did Not Occur, Alarming Scientists

The cold water upwell, which is vital to marine life, did not materialize for the first time on record. Researchers are trying to figure out why.

The New York Times

This week''s #TuneTuesday theme is #AtTheBeach. Here's a small selection of relevant songs from the mid-sixties:

The Shangri-Las: Remember (Walking In the Sand) (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwmyNmrSYw

The Beach-Nuts: Out In The Sun (Hey-O) (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt2KKDPrbqE

The Pleasures: Let's Have A Beach Party (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaT3VJpcgcs

The Trade Winds: Summertime Girl (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEwjoOw4ts

The Drifters: Under the Boardwalk (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSddD6w5SKc

#music #ShangriLas #beachnuts #Jaibi #tradewinds #drifters

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walking In The Sand) 1964

YouTube
#US wind generation fell in #2023 for the first time since the 1990s
#EIA’s “#PowerPlant Operations Report” show that US wind generation in 2023 totaled 425,235GWh – 2.1% less than the 434,297GWh generated in 2022.
EIA attributed the drop to slower wind speeds than normal in 2023, especially during the first half of the year, when wind generation dropped by 14% compared with 1H 2022. The #ElNiño #climate pattern, which weakens #tradewinds, definitely had a hand in that.
https://electrek.co/2024/04/30/us-wind-generation-2023/
US wind generation fell in 2023 for the first time since the 1990s

Annual US power generation from wind turbines declined in 2023 for the first time since the mid-1990s – here's why.

Electrek