Geography
What Are Jet Streams and How They Affect the Climate Class 9
What are Jet Streams and How do they Affect the Climate of India? Class 9 Geography Question Solution.
Let’s first learn, About Jet Streams. So, What are Jet Streams?
What are Jet Streams?
Jet streams are swiftly moving, slender, meandering air currents in the Earth’s atmosphere.
On Earth, jet streams are westerly winds that blow from west to east and may start, stop, or split into more than one stream.
The word “jet” suggests that these are a particular type of swift-moving stream. Wasaburo Oishi, a Japanese meteorologist, is one of the first names connected with the Jetstream. He made the discovery in the 1920s while using weather balloons to monitor upper-level winds close to Mount Fuji.
They are swiftly moving, constrictive, and roving air currents and flows in Earth’s atmosphere. Due to the Coriolis Effect, they are typically located close to the tropopause’s altitude and are westerly breezes, which stream from west to east.
An air current is a stream of air that develops within a larger collection of air and moves through the air layers that surround the Earth. They are shaped as a result of the sun’s uneven heating of the Earth. Warm air rises and creates a warm air current when the warm air expands due to warming and becomes lighter than the surrounding air.
Then, cooler and heavier air enters to replace the warm air that has just emerged, thereby forming a cold air current. The strongest air currents in the atmosphere are known as jet streams.
What are Jet Streams? Short Answer.
A slender band of westerly winds blowing at a high altitude (over 12,000 m) is known as a jet stream. From roughly 110 km/h in the summer to about 184 km/h in the winter, their speed varies.
Jet Stream
- Strongest westerly winds in the atmosphere(Troposphere)
- Very cold, the fast-moving wind found high in the atmosphere above 12,000m
- Faster in winter when the temperature differences between tropical, temperate, and polar air currents are greater
- Winter Speed – 184 KM/HR
- Summer Speed – 110 KM/HR
How do they Affect the Climate of India?
1. The subtropical jet streams, which control the upper air circulation that precedes monsoon, are influenced by the jet streams (STJ). The tropical easterly stream has a direct impact on India’s southwest monsoon.
2. The subtropical westerly Jet Stream is connected to the northeast monsoon, often known as the winter monsoon. There is a lot of pressure at the surface due to the cold wind pushing downwind to the surface.
3. The dry winds then begin to blow toward the low-pressure area or the Bay of Bengal from this high-pressure area, which lies in the northwest of India. The chilly waves that flow in the winter across the northern section of the country, including UP and Bihar, are also caused by these winds.
4. The westerly jet streams, which originate in the Bay of Bengal, give rise to the northeast monsoon. When this wind reaches the coast of Tamil Nadu, it produces rain because of the humidity it has absorbed from the Bay of Bengal.
