# What makes the wind? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958 "2008-01-10T06:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![petew83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/1 "2008-01-10T06:28:50Z")
What makes the wind? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/2 "2008-01-10T06:33:06Z")
Largely air density differences caused by temperature differences. Air flows from high to low pressure areas. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/3 "2008-01-10T11:34:54Z")
And after the scientific answer comes…beans and cabbage! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/4 "2008-01-10T18:33:07Z")
Blue Oyster Cult have wondered about this, too: “Come susie dear, lets take a walk Just out there upon the beach I know youll soon be married And you’ll want to know where winds come from” (Astronomy) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/5 "2008-01-10T18:44:30Z")
[QUOTE=glee] after the scientific answer comes… [/QUOTE] Another scientific answer: > [@](#): > > The key flatulence-producing raffinose family oligosaccharides in mungbeans were degraded in the irradiated samples at the onset of the germination (0-2 days) compared to the control where it occurred much later (\>4 days). [Reduction in flatulence factors in mung beans (Vigna radiata) using low-dose gamma-irradiation](http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/68000109/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) [Raffinose](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffinose) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/6 "2008-01-10T18:58:27Z")
[QUOTE=petew83] What makes the wind? [/QUOTE] Basically, the sun. Think of the atmosphere as a pool of fluid surrounding the earth. Differential heating of the earth’s surface means this pool is not tranquil - air mounds up in some areas (shown on a weather chart with the symbol H) and is less deep than average in others (symbol = L). Gravity naturally causes the mounded-up air to flow toward the depressed area, in the same way that it causes water to flow downhill. Because the earth is rotating, the flows don’t go directly from high to low - Coriolis forces tend to bend them. A large mass of air in motion has lots of momentum. Water vapor plays a huge role. So the details can be quite complicated, but the root cause is simple. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/7 "2008-01-10T19:20:37Z")
According to [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Storms-HubbardBernardR/dp/B000YCSF88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199992630&sr=1-1) (an excellent read, by the way), all wind originates in the Aleutian Islands. This is supported by the motto of Adak, Alaska, [Birthplace of The Winds](http://www.bouwman.com/world/alaska/adak/adak.html). I’ve been there, and the place mainly sucks, but I can see the point. ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/8 "2008-01-10T20:01:18Z")
The answer is blowing in the wind! Oh dear…that was really bad. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/9 "2008-01-10T20:18:15Z")
It’s inscrutable, man. You might as well ask what causes rainbows, or where does the dew come from. Faeries. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/10 "2008-01-10T20:23:31Z")
[QUOTE=petew83] What makes the wind? [/QUOTE] Pulling the finger. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/11 "2008-01-10T22:36:19Z")
[QUOTE=glee] And after the scientific answer comes…beans and cabbage! 🙂 [/QUOTE] You forgot the large contribution of Beer and The Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/12 "2008-01-10T22:58:53Z")
BTW–I am partly of Irish extraction. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/13 "2008-01-10T22:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] BTW–I am partly of Irish extraction. [/QUOTE] Which part? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/14 "2008-01-10T23:00:53Z")
[QUOTE=MrFloppy] The answer is blowing in the wind! Oh dear…that was really bad. Sorry. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. Pete asked what **makes** the wind. All you covered was the foreplay! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/15 "2008-01-10T23:01:48Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Which part? [/QUOTE] Anatomically? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/16 "2008-01-10T23:13:22Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Which part? [/QUOTE] The flatulent part. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-the-wind/432958/17 "2008-01-11T11:47:22Z")
Trees sneezing. Don’t believe me? [Cite](http://www.transmogrifier.org/ch-img/ch930615.gif).