ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Coriolis effect

The Coriolis Effect is like an invisible force that affects the way things move around the Earth. It's named after a French scientist named Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis, who first noticed it in 1835.

Let's say you have a bucket of water and you flick it around in circles. When you flick it on the North Pole side of the Earth, the water will move in a clockwise circle. But when you flick it on the South Pole side of the Earth, the water will move in a counterclockwise circle.

That's because of the Coriolis Effect: when something is moving around the Earth, it will move in the opposite direction depending on whether it is on the North or South Pole side. This is because the Earth is spinning from West to East, and this makes it so that things seem to be moving in circles when we're standing still.

So the Coriolis Effect affects the way wind and ocean currents move, and this can have a big impact on the weather.