Short bursts of fast winds are called "gusts". Strong winds that go on for about one minute are called "squalls". Winds that go on for a long time are called many different things, such as "breeze", "gale", "hurricane", and "typhoon".
Wind can move land, especially in deserts. Cold wind can sometimes have a bad effect on livestock. Wind also affects animals' food stores, their hunting and the way they protect themselves.
Sunlight drives the Earth's atmospheric circulation. The resulting winds blow over land and sea, producing weather.
A High pressure area (that makes an anticyclone) near a low pressure system (that makes a cyclone), makes air move from the high pressure to the low pressure to try to even out the pressures. The Coriolis effect causes the winds to spiral around. A big difference in pressure can make high winds. In some storms, such as hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, or tornadoes, it can cause winds faster than 200 mph (320 kilometres per hour ). This can damage houses and other buildings, and can kill people.
Wind can also be caused by the rising of hot air, or the falling of cool air. When hot air rises, it creates a low pressure underneath it, and air moves in to equalize the pressure. When cold air drops (because it is denser or heavier than warm air), it creates a high pressure, and flows out to even out the pressure with the low pressure around it.
The wind is usually invisible, but rain, dust, or snow can show how it is blowing. A weathervane can also show you where the wind is coming from. The Beaufort scale is a way to tell how strong the wind is. It is used at sea, when no land can be seen.
The increase in wind causes an increase in the rate of evaporation.
High winds can cause damage depending on how strong they are. Sometimes gusts of wind can make poorly made bridges move or be destroyed, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. Electric power distribution can fail because of wind, even if its speed is as low as . This happens when tree branches damage power lines. No kind of tree can resist hurricane-force winds, but trees with roots that are not very deep can be blown over more easily. Trees such as eucalyptus, sea hibiscus, and avocado are brittle (easy to break) and are damaged more easily.
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere. They occur in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere. They blow from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere. They are stronger during the winter and when the Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase. Trade winds have been used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world's oceans for centuries. They enabled European empire expansion into the Americas. They also allowed trade routes to become established across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The "doldrums" are in the equatorial region. It is a wind belt where air is warm, with little pressure variations. Winds are light there. Another name for doldrums is "Intertropical Convergence Zone" (ITCZ)
Wind in outer space, called "solar wind", is very different from a wind on earth. This wind is caused by the sun, or other stars, and it is made up of particles that came out of the star's atmosphere. Like solar wind, the planetary wind is made up of light gases that have come out of planets' atmospheres.
Vertebrate
A vertebrate is an animal with a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone. The word comes from vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine. Animals that are not vertebrates are called invertebrates. Vertebrates include birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. The parts of the vertebrate skeleton are:
Examples of vertebrates are mammals, birds, and fish. A few tens of thousands of species have been identified. The term "fish" is used to describe at least four different kinds of vertebrates.
Vertebrates dominate amongst the animals in virtually all environments. They include the largest animals in each main ecosystem, though not the largest living things (because that would include trees). They are the only animals which have an adaptive immune system. These two facts may be connected.
Alpha male
An alpha male is the top-ranking male in a mammalian social group.
Some animals live in a social structure where the most powerful male in the group is decided by either fights or very aggressive battles that sometimes end in death (in the wild). The current alpha male must defend his position from younger members. When he is too old or not strong enough to win, he loses his position in the group. Sometimes, he will die or be forced to leave the group.
The result of this is that the alpha male usually has more opportunity to mate with the available females. This system developed because strong males will produce young which have a better chance for survival.
Some animal groups which may have alpha males:
Alpha male can also refer to a high-ranked human in a group. This may be in a business setting or sometimes in other competitive areas, like sports. However, this is an extension by metaphor: humans do not have the same mating system as other social mammals. One reason is that the oestrous cycle in humans is different. This has the result that females may be sexually receptive at almost any time. Also, humans generally pair off, and alpha males do not have exclusive rights over all females in a group, except in rare circumstances.
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign country as well as a city-state. It is at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Asia, between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Singapore is about one degree of latitude () north of the equator. About 5.70 million people live in Singapore. About 3.31 million are citizens. Most of them are ethnically Chinese, Malay, or Indian, as well as a smaller number of other Asians.
Present-day Singapore was founded in 1819 by Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the British Empire. During the Second World War, Singapore was taken over by Japan in 1942, but returned to British control after Japan surrendered in 1945. Singapore started to govern itself in 1959, and in 1963 became part of the new federation of Malaysia, together with Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Political and social differences led to Singapore being removed from the federation two years later, becoming an independent country on its own.
The symbolic national language of Singapore is Malay. Other official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin and Tamil. English is the language of choice because it is the language that everyone in Singapore knows and uses. It is the first language taught in schools and the language used by the government and in court. Students are also usually taught the language of their ethnicity. This means that the Chinese will learn Mandarin, Malays will learn Malay, and so on. Students can also choose to learn a third language in secondary school. As a result, most Singaporeans are bilingual.
Singapore is also known as a "Garden City" or a "City in a Garden". It is because there are plants everywhere, making it look like a garden. Singapore has one of the highest standards of living in the world, with very good education, healthcare, housing, and very low corruption. It is also known for having many strict rules and punishments, including fines. This is why it is also sometimes jokingly called a "fine" city. The government says this has helped Singapore in being a very safe country. Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN.