What Are Convection Currents?
2. Atmospheric Circulation
As the sun heats the air around the equator, it becomes less dense and rises upward and outward. At greater heights, this air becomes cool and moves back down toward the equator. This circulation of warm and cold air has become known as Hadley cells, named for amateur meteorologist George Hadley who proposed the idea.
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These currents are what drive the trade winds in the tropics, the tropical rain-belt, and contribute to the occurrence of hurricanes. Atmospheric convection currents also aid in the formation of cumulus clouds. This occurs when the now cooled air has reached low air pressures at which point the water vapor within it condenses to form the cloud.
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