when windmills extract energy from the wind, what effect does this have on the climate?
458754
I like this question. All the talk about alternative energy, and people have not considered that they all have negative environmental impact. SOlar, wind, hydro, tidal all will have some negative impact. \n\nI am convinced that windmills have negative environmetal efects but the true effect will no be know unless there are a bigger number of windmilss out there. What I can say right now is that they kill a large number of birds.
818579
they are nonrenewable resources.\nonce they been used once (burned) they finished with and cannot create anymore energy.\nThe world has a limited suply of these nonrenewable energy sources left.\n\nrenewable sources woud include solar (sun) wind and water power as these will never run out
639560
The wind is just the observable and measurable manifestation of air molecules being drawn en masse from one place to another by a differential in atmospheric pressure between the two places.  What causes most of these pressure differentiations is (a) earth's rotation creating friction between the lower and upper components of the atmosphere, and (b) temperature gradients in the atmosphere and the oceans caused by the heating action of our star, the Sun.\n\nLet's go fly a kite!
749020
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).\n\nGiven a difference in barometric pressure between two air masses, a wind will arise between the two which tends to flow from the area of high pressure to the area of low pressure until the two air masses are at the same pressure, although these flows will be modified by the Coriolis effect in the extratropics.\n\nWinds can be classified either by their scale, the kinds of forces which cause them (according to the atmospheric equations of motion), or the geographic regions in which they exist. There are global winds, such as the wind belts which exist between the atmospheric circulation cells. There are upper-level winds, such as the jet streams. There are synoptic-scale winds that result from pressure differences in surface air masses in the middle latitudes, and there are winds that come about as a consequence of geographic features such as the sea breeze. Mesoscale winds are those which act on a local scale, such as gust fronts. At the smallest scale are the microscale winds which blow on a scale of only tens to hundreds of metres and are essentially unpredictable, such as dust devils and microbursts.\n\nWinds can also shape landforms, via a variety of eolian processes.
577723
solar energy to create heat and use that to turn turbines(as in a hydroelectric the force of water turns turbine), windmills use the wind to wind the huge fans and the mechanical energy to wind turbines to create electricity. states like california, new jersey and new york use these kinds of technology.
1019039
Rotating turbines attached to electrical generators produce most commercially available electricity. Turbines may be driven by using steam, water, wind or other fluids as an intermediate energy carrier. The most common usage is by steam in fossil fuel power plants or nuclear power plants, and by water in hydroelectric dams. Alternately, turbines can be driven directly by the combustion of natural gas or oil. Combined cycle gas turbine plants offer efficiencies of up to 60%. They generate power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use residual heat to generate additional electricity from steam. Wind turbines generate electricity by using the wind. Solar chimneys use wind that is artificially produced inside the chimney by heating it with sunlight. Solar parabolic troughs and solar power towers concentrate sunlight to heat a heat transfer fluid that is used to produce steam to turn a turbine. Small electricity generators are often powered by reciprocating engines burning diesel, biogas or natural gas. Diesel engines are often used for back up generation, usually at low voltages. Biogas is often combusted where it is produced, such as a landfill or wastewater treatment plant, with a reciprocating engine or a microturbine, which is a small gas turbine.
230104
Global warming melts the polar icecaps which dilute the salinity of the water. In a process we don't fully understand yet, this slows down the circulation of the undercurrents. \n\nThe earth is in a delicate climatic balance. One of the beneficial effects of "bad" storms(such as hurricanes) is that they act as an equilibrium- bringing cooler air towards the equator and warmer air towards the poles. If this is upset, the results often bring wild swings. \n\nSo if the pendulum swings too far, it could swing too far the other way.
751107
I guess it is an assumption by you but it can happen.  It would be a better world because it will replace the use of many contaminating fuels and will be of a great economic value.  Also the hole over the pole caused by industrial  emissions and others would have a higher probability of surviving.  Actually such a use is increasing and you can find windmill farms for the production of electricity.  They are contamination free except for an acceptable low noise.  Although great advances are being made on the subject,  more can be done.  I have found a lot of information about this topic in the Internet, as well as for other alternatives like gasohol and bio diesel.  Today  you can get heat from the sun as well as electricity  by using either common panels or vacuum tube collectors.
323889
wind farming: eco ben.= no c02 emissions during energy production, no noise pollution, easy to maintain\n\nside effects=  unsightly and spoils the countryside, kills birds of prey ie eagles
419160
wind is the result of basically a pressure difference.whenever there is a pressure difference between two places the wind blows from the high pressure side to the low pressure side.this pressure difference can be caused due to several reasond...in summers,the land is overheated and so is the air just around it.the air gets hot and start rising.this tends to lower the pressure of that area.then air from some high pressure area takes the place of that low pressure area.in winters over cooling hightens the pressure of the air.which again tends the air to flow,causing mild winds.near a beach,the heating of the land and the water is uneaven and thus causes the sea breeze during the day and land breeze during the night.
538752
It can be one or the other or both.\n\nFor example, farming may change a forest into land that is easily eroded. Climate changes include lots of rain either at the site or upstream Maybe a hot summer will melt more snow from a mountain..there are just a few examples.
610297
There is not enough wind power being generated for everyone who might want to buy it. And I would be suspicious too. How do you really KNOW that all your electricity comes from wind? Just because the electric company says it does? And you believe them? Wind power is just put on the power grid with all the other electricity, so it is all mixed up. You are depending on accountants at your power company to correctly calculate, second by second, that all the power from wind entering the network equals or exceeds all the power being used by customers paying extra to get wind power. I am not sure I trust them to do that.
479534
A turbind spins in a flat trajectory parallel to the land and generates electricity. A windmill spins vertically and does not develop a rapid speed, but is used to primarily grind grain.
1008362
A lot of wind current is caused by temperature differentials between two or more areas.  The earth's rotation is also responsible for currents and jet streams.  I had a porfessor tell me that the same wind that is blowing now is the same wind that has been blowing for 4 billion years.
608810
Wind is the movement of air in response to formation of low pressure cells.\n\nAs someone else stated earlier, the uneven heating of the earth is the primary source for the formation of wind.\n\nCertain parts of the world gets more sunlight than others. This creates uneven heating.\n\nAreas that accumulate more heat are associated w/ low pressure cells. Warm air is less dense than cooler air & will rise.\n\nLike everything else in nature, air pressure tends to want to balance out. That means high pressure will move toward low pressure. This is the beginning of wind.\n\nThe process above describes the global movement of wind that is associated w/ pressure belts around the globe. These are called global winds (ie trade winds, easterlies, etc.)\n\nLocal winds such as valley & mountain breezes as well as sea & land breezes are created in the same way except on a much smaller scale.\n\nLocal winds begin w/ uneven heating of earth's surfaces and/or waters.\n\nFor instance, w/ a sea breeze, localized low pressure will form over land during the day since land heats up faster & to much higher temps than water.\n\nAs the air rises, cooler denser air from over the ocean moves toward the land to replace the air that has risen. This creates a convection current in which the air will circulate, creating a constant breeze.\n\nHowever, at night, the opposite is true. Low pressure forms over the water. Since water cools off more slowly than land surfaces, the water will be the source of the low pressure & the reverse will take place.
797490
Wind strength, or more specifically, its effect and destructiveness.
616186
The potential energy, stored by the water due to its height, converts to kinetic energy as it falls. This turns the turbines which in turn create electrical energy.\n\nThis conversion requires the use of a generator (the rotation of the coils of wire that cuts through the magnetic fields of some magnets results in electricity forming; refer to Fleming.)