Low and high pressure circulations are reversed in opposite hemispheres
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Cyclones and Anti-cyclones
The Earth's spin causes the
wind to curve. This is called the
Coriolis Effect, named after Gaspard Coriolis who first worked out the
mathematics involved. The wind in the northern hemisphere curves to the
right and the wind in the southern hemisphere curves to the left.
When the wind swirls counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere or
clockwise in the southern hemisphere, it is called
cyclonic
flow. When the wind swirls clockwise in the norther hemisphere
or counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere, it is called
anticyclonic flow. An example of cyclonic flow is the
flow around a low
pressure area while an example of anticyclonic flow is
the flow arond a high pressure area. A
hurricane is a cyclone.
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