Where does the wind come from?
408414
The easy answer is, of course, from the potato salad and burrito you had earlier. A more dignified answer is at Scientific American. \n\nSimply put, wind is the motion of air molecules. Two concepts are central to understanding what causes wind: air and air pressure. Air comprises molecules of nitrogen (about 78 percent by volume), oxygen (about 21 percent by volume), water vapor (between 1 and 4 percent by volume near the surface of the earth) and other trace elements. Every time we breathe, the air we inhale is composed of about the same relative ratios of these molecules, and a cubic inch of air at ground level contains about 1020 molecules. \n\nAll of these air molecules are moving about very quickly, colliding readily with each other and any objects at ground level. Air pressure is defined as the amount of force that these molecules impart on a given area. In general, the more air molecules present, the greater the air pressure. Wind, in turn, is driven by what is called the pressure gradient force. Changes in air pressure over a specified horizontal distance cause air molecules from the region of relatively high air pressure to rush toward the area of low pressure. Such horizontal pressure differences of all scales generate the wind we experience. \n\nThe areas of high and low pressure displayed on a weather map in large part drive the (usually) gentle ambient wind flow we experience on a given day. The pressure differences behind this wind are only about 1 percent of the total atmospheric pressure, and these changes occur over the range of multiple states. The winds in severe storms, in contrast, are a result of much larger and more concentrated areas of horizontal pressure change. Tornadoes are great examples. In June 2003 Tim Samaras of Applied Research Associates placed a scientific probe in the direct path of an F4 (devastating) tornado near Manchester, S. Dak. He found that the air pressure dropped by 10 percent of the total atmospheric value over the radius of the tornado. The magnitude of this air pressure change, and the very short distance over which it occurred, explains why the winds are so destructive in this phenomenon: air molecules are very quickly accelerated into the very low pressure at the center of the tornado where the water vapor contained in the air often condenses, creating the often visible "condensation funnel."
715107
The same as everywhere else.\n\nHigher wind speeds disperse pollutants.  Wind direction determines where pollutants go.
464569
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind..the answer is blowing in the wind...
692673
Outward from the source at first.  As it becomes larger, it moves in the same direction as the wind is blowing.  Fires also move more readily up a slope than they do down a slope.
888128
The most common wind-formed deposit is the sand dune, found in deserts and on the shores of oceans and lakes. Dunes are formed by sand accumulating around any object that serves as an obstacle to the wind. As windblown sand is deposited in the lee of such an obstacle, the wind is slowed still more, and the dune continues to grow. Dunes in some localities may reach a height of 200 m (650 ft). When materials finer than sand are carried by the wind and finally dropped to the ground, the deposit that results is known as loess. Thick layers of loess are found in Europe and the Americas, and loess deposits of Asia reach a thickness of several hundred metres. They are the basis for some of the richest agricultural soils of the world.\n\nMicrosoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2005 © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
974881
From the trees waving. Check it out, every time they wave, there is a wind
973527
That's an urban legend.  Windmills are generally set up to rotate in a way that makes the most out of the prevailing local wind.  If you look at windmills you will find that they do not all rotate the same way.
900196
where the wind has blown
722142
The direction a windmill turns is based solely on the angle of the blades.  The direction of the wind, or which country it is in, has nothing to do with it.\n\nThe blades of a windmill look like the blades of an ordinary fan; they are curved.  As the wind blows across them, they turn in the direction determined by the curvature of the blades.
417730
It could also be the wind going in different directions pushing the top layer of the water in different directions which in turn, gives you different reflections which can appear to be separated.
107927
You can't see the wind, only the leaves and limbs as they respond to its ebb and flow. You can't touch the wind but it touches you with it's warm summer breezes and winter's blustery blow. But, you can hear the wind as it whips through the trees. Try to catch the wind you wind up on your knees.\n\nOff the top of my head. This was fun!!
1063787
"Wind is the roughly horizontal movement of air (as opposed to an air current) caused by uneven heating of the Earth's surface. It occurs at all scales, from local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting tens of minutes to global winds resulting from solar heating of the Earth. The two major influences on the atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect)."
367563
WHAT IS WIND?\n\nMovement of air between pressure systems as they try to balance out is called wind. Air flows from high pressure systems to low ones to try to reach equilibrium. In the constantly developing and changing system of the atmosphere this never actually happens.
403944
the answer is blowing in the wind
630748
The more wind the higher the waves.\n\nWhen wind blows over the ocean's surface, it creates waves. Their size depends on how far, how fast and how long the wind blows. A brief, gently breeze forms patches of tiny ripples on the surface called catspaws; strong, steady winds over long distances create large waves. But even when you feel no wind at all, you may encounter large swells created by distant storms.
456954
Ok here ya go!\n\n In 2005, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 58,982 MW, their production making up less than 1% of world-wide electricity use. Although still a relatively minor source of electricity for most countries, wind power generation more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2005.\n\nMost modern wind power is generated in the form of electricity by converting the rotation of turbine blades into electrical current by means of an electrical generator. In windmills (a much older technology) wind energy is used to turn mechanical machinery to do physical work, like crushing grain or pumping water.\n\nWind power is used in large scale wind farms for national electrical grids as well as in small individual turbines for providing electricity in isolated locations.\n\nWind energy is abundant, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and mitigates the greenhouse effect.\n\nAn estimated 1 to 3 % of energy from the Sun that hits the earth is converted into wind energy. This is about 50 to 100 times more energy than is converted into biomass by all the plants on earth through photosynthesis. Most of this wind energy can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds of over 160 km/h (100 mph) occur. Eventually, the wind energy is converted through friction into diffuse heat all through the earth's surface and atmosphere.\n\nThe origin of wind is simple. The earth is unevenly heated by the sun resulting in the poles receiving less energy from the sun than the equator does. Also the dry land heats up (and cools down) more quickly than the seas do. The differential heating powers a global atmospheric convection system reaching from the earth's surface to the stratosphere which acts as a virtual ceiling.\n\nThe change of seasons, change of day and night, the Coriolis effect, the irregular albedo (reflectivity) of land and water, humidity, and the friction of wind over different terrain are some of the factors which complicate the flow of wind over the surface.
950954
Sediemnt travels dwonhill from a source, either by falling, water, wind, or other properties.  I'd be happy to give a more specific answer to you if your question was more specific.