From Tony Walker
London
It is theoretically possible to get winds all round the compass at the North
Pole. They can also all be northerly.
In summer, onshore coastal breezes in Britain are created by hot air rising
off the land, with cool air descending over the sea. If the North Pole briefly
becomes a small ice floe surrounded by sea, there would be a similar effect.
Warmer air would rise over the surrounding sea, while cooler air would
descend on the Pole and the ice area in the middle. Wind blowing down on the
North Pole could hardly be called southerly, and in any case would become
northerly when it hit the ice, being diverted radially.
Advertisement
