Near the poles, Earth rotates at a sluggish 0.00008 kilometers (0.00005 miles) per hour. Earth is wider at the Equator, so to make a rotation in one 24-hour period, equatorial regions race nearly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) per hour. Specifically, Earth rotates faster at the Equator than it does at the poles. The key to the Coriolis effect lies in Earth’s rotation. The Coriolis effect is responsible for many large-scale weather patterns.
The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around Earth.
