thermal currents
Warm air columns
Thermal currents are movements of air or water caused by differences in temperature.
Warm air or water rises while cooler masses sink, creating circulation patterns.
Birds and gliders ride thermal currents—columns of rising warm air—to gain altitude without expending energy: Hawks circled lazily on the thermals.
In oceans, thermal currents help distribute heat globally.
- thermalsWarm air columns
- convectionHeat transfer via motion
- updraftUpward air movement
- liftMechanism for vertical transport
- turbulenceChaotic flow patterns
gliding · hang glider · downdraft · soaring · gyres · kettling · upwelling · microclimates · heat island · El Niño · warm front · raptors · bird migration · volcanic activity · geothermal vents · hot air balloon · ascending · columns
- Ballooninghot air balloon, hot air balloons, balloon, gas balloons, balloonist
- convectionconvection, convection cell, natural convection, updraft, downdraft
- glidingglider, gliders, sailplane, sailplanes, soaring
- huntingdeer hunting, hunting rifle, hunters, tracking, hunting license
thermal currentswind
Air current outdoors
geostrophic wind · trade winds · prevailing winds · jet stream
thermal currentssurface winds
Airflow at Earth's level
advection · crosswinds · sea breeze · land breeze · jet streams