Between these two powerful drivers of circulation, Earth's atmosphere is constantly cycling and changing. Earth has five major wind zones, organized by latitude.

UNTIL some twenty years ago meteorology was regarded as an elementary science founded on theories so simple that they might be taken as self-evident. Thus the cyclone was looked upon as a warm ...

This weakens the wind circulation, as well as the transport of heat and moisture needed to fuel the storm. The result can tear a hurricane apart. El Niño’s and La Niña’s influence.