The Coriolis effect behaves the opposite way in the Southern Hemisphere, where currents appear to bend to the left. They appear to bend to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fluids traveling across large areas, such as air currents, are like the path of the ball. This apparent deflection is the Coriolis effect. But this time, it’s because he’s moving faster than you are and has moved ahead of the ball.Įverywhere you play global-scale 'catch' in the Northern Hemisphere, the ball will deflect to the right. When you throw the ball to your friend, it will again to appear to land to the right of him. Now let’s pretend you’re standing at the North Pole. If you throw the ball in a straight line, it will appear to land to the right of your friend because he’s moving slower and has not caught up. Let’s pretend you’re standing at the Equator and you want to throw a ball to your friend in the middle of North America. Near the poles, Earth rotates at a sluggish 0.00008 kilometers (0.00005 miles) per hour. Earth is wider at the Equator, so to make a rotation in one 24-hour period, equatorial regions race nearly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) per hour.

Specifically, Earth rotates faster at the Equator than it does at the poles. The key to the Coriolis effect lies in Earth’s rotation. The Coriolis effect is responsible for many large-scale weather patterns. The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around Earth.

Animation of earth spinning on its axis