The Earth's Climate

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Coriolis Force

The Coriolis Force is a force that deflects the trajectory of an object in movement on the surface of an object in rotation. It affects all bodies in movement on Earth due to the rotation of the planet around its polar axis. The force is maximal at the poles and zero at the Equator.
The effect of the Coriolis Force is to deflect moving bodies to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. It applies in particular to masses of air and water in motion, affecting the direction of the wind rotation in depressions and anticyclones (counterclockwise and clockwise respectively in the Northern Hemisphere).
The Coriolis Force also affects the direction of the Trade Winds, which blow from the tropics towards the Equator, northeast to southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and southeast to northwest in the Southern Hemisphere.

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