China
is located at 32.9043° N, 110.4677° E, whose
general latitude ranges between roughly 20° N - 50° N. The large land mass is
thus affected by different wind circulation paths. Trade winds are winds that
blow east to west, while winds that flow from west to east are known as jet
streams. Jet streams fast-moving
high-altitude narrow air currents in the atmosphere. Tropical easterly winds
affected by the subtropical jet stream move from east to west toward the ITCZ
while westerly winds move to the east toward the subpolar jet stream. China is mainly
influenced by the high, subtropical jet stream. Northern jet streams are caused
by a combination of the planet’s rotation as well as atmospheric heating, where
boundaries of meandering air masses hold differences in temperature. Jet streams move moisture in Earth’s
atmosphere and are partially responsible for changes in our weather.
The photo on the left depicts Earth's trade winds and the corresponding jet streams. Notice direction of the winds as well as the latitudes of the jet streams. The photo on the right depicts the flow of Earth's jet streams, which travel west to east. Right:http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/guides/mtr/hurr/gifs/mvmt1.gif
Left: http://whyfiles.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/jet_stream_globe.jpg
As hot air
rises, due to the sun warming the Earth’s surface, water vapor also rises into
the sky near the equator. As the Northern
hemisphere warms in spring and summer, the winds change due to a differences in
pressure, in part caused by warm and cold fronts. Monsoon winds, for example,
blow in opposite directions during different times of the year and are accompanied by corresponding changes in perception. Monsoons
in China occur in this way. Instead of the winds blowing towards Africa via the
tropical easterlies, the wind blows across the Indian Ocean all the way to
Japan. China’s summer monsoon includes warm winds from the tropics and picks up
large amounts of water due to evaporation as it crosses the India Ocean. As the
warm, moist winds lift and travel over the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau,
it condenses into rain or snow.
Info source: http://www.yourchildlearns.com/china-monsoon.html
