Air might feel like nothing to you and me, but it is actually super heavy. In fact, the pressure caused by all those gases in the atmosphere stacked on top of each other creates a great deal of pressure-about 14.7 pounds pressing on every inch of our body. We don't notice it because we are used to it.
But not all areas have the same exact air pressure. Some areas have more pressure than their surroundings, and some areas have less.
Low-Pressure System
Air might feel like nothing to you and me, but it is actually super heavy. In fact, the pressure caused by all those gases in the atmosphere stacked on top of each other creates a great deal of pressure-about 14.7 pounds pressing on every inch of our body. We don't notice it because we are used to it.
But not all areas have the same exact air pressure. Some areas have more pressure than their surroundings, and some areas have less.
A low-pressure system. Credit: NOAA/JPL-Caltech
High-Pressure System
High-pressure systems, on the other hand, have more air pressure than their surroundings. That means they are constantly pushing air away from them into the areas that have lower pressure. They are often times associated with clear blue skies.
A polar vortex is a semi-permanent, massive low-pressure system that hovers over the poles of our planet.
A high-pressure system. Credit: NOAA/JPL-Caltech
This content was produced by the NASA Space Place team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NESDIS with funds from the GOES-R Series program and the JPSS program.