coriolis effectand weather above the equator

[abelcalifornia]

I was wondering if the weather above or below the equator is effected by the coriolis effect. I know the coriolis effect is caused by the rotation of the earth and explains why a straight line appears to curve, but I was wondering if it effects the winds.In other words, if a nuclear war were to break out would living at the tip of south America help?Or are the winds of the world not effected by the coriolis effect?

 

[Dickie]

Yup, the Coriolis Effect does cause winds to 'bend' to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. In the end the interaction between the Pressure Gradient Force (air moving from high to low pressure) and the Coriolis Effect causes the winds to run parallel to the isobars at ~2000ft AMSL when the various forces balance out - this is called the Geostrophic Flow/Wind. The eventual speed of the wind is then dependent on whether the air is flowing cyclonically or anticyclonically, in the case of the former the PGF is greater than the CE with the excess producing centripetal force resulting in a wind weaker than the expected Geostrophic Wind for the given isobars, with the reverse being true for an anticyclone. (There is a diagram for this which I can never quite remember but makes everything quite clear, IIRC it's all to do with conservation of momentum of the air. It's probably on the net somewhere...)

As for trying to survive a nuclear war by dodging fallout, you'd probably be better looking at the trade winds - caused by a combination or the Coriolis Effect, Hadley Cells and global landmasses.[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadley_cell"][/ame]

Really interesting if you do look into it!
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadley_cell"][/ame]

 

[Urwumpe]

If you want to be save from nuclear fall-out you would need to go to the poles, since there are large zones isolated from the winds of the other regions. Because of that large wind still zone the antarctic is for example very popular for launching high-altitude balloons.

 

[abelcalifornia]

Thanks to all of you that was very helpful !

 

[skyrider]

Coriolis affect and nuclear fallout

You cannot run to South America or any region south of the equator and expect to be protected from nuclear fallout. I suspect that the poster is refering to a claim by Brian Sawyer's website escapetheusanow.com. That claim is completely false and misleading.

In the event of a nuclear explosion the air will contain radioactive particles which will find their way to the oceans via rivers and streams (if not directly). Currents and deep sea currents will transport the particles worldwide regardless of the coriolis affect or rotaion of the earth. Ocean currents are not restricted to hemishperes.