Earth’s weather systems are highly irregular (Figure \ref{561370}). They are characterized by bands of wind activity running across the north Pacific, North America, and the north Atlantic, as well as a series of similar bands connecting the southern edges of Earth’s continents (\citet{Mingalev_2012};\cite{nasa-wp-05})^13,14. This presents a sharp contrast with other planets in the solar system, such as Jupiter, which present highly active weather systems that are nonetheless much more consistent. Jupiter itself has patterns of global atmospheric circulation that form bands running perpendicular to the axis of the planet \citep{Porco_2003}¹⁵. 

The major factors that determine any planet’s large-scale patterns of atmospheric circulation involve the layout of land and water. Land masses heat faster on the surface than bodies of water do, but store heat less efficiently. They heat they absorb and release creates updrafts, especially near coastlines. In addition to such well-understood contributors, though, there are other crucial factors in atmospheric dynamics. One that is typically omitted from the list is the formation and persistence of large vortices. A vortex is in essence a three-dimensional conveyor belt of air, which can be caused by either a moving body (see Section 3) or by temperature changes, evaporation, and other atmospheric changes. They can persist for long periods of time as they are to some degree selfsustaining, thanks to their rotational movement that reduces interaction with surrounding fluids \cite{Barenghi_1983}¹⁶. 

Vortices have always been part of Earth’s weather systems. This is because solids conduct heat better than liquids and gases because the particles in solids are more closely packed together and because of their relative lack of movement. Fluids move easily, and as they flow, they allow heat to be moved from one point to another, making it easier for the heat to dissipate. This is why land is hotter than the ocean.

Even the effects of land-water boundaries are mediated by vortex formation. Solar heat is trapped in the uppermost layers of Earth’s landmasses. This causes air to rise faster above land than it does over large bodies of water, resulting in the formation of vortices at land/water boundaries. These vortices are often very large, stretching for thousands of miles. Once formed, they are persistent, semi-stable weather systems, and can drift across the planet much as storm systems do. Their stability comes from the fact that they are thermodynamically closed systems \citep*{Kreith_1959}¹⁷, such that they compensate for disruptions in their circulation by closing the break on a less viscous medium.

The land masses on earth are highly porous due to their varied composition (i.e., they are composed of different soils and geological formations). This porosity allows ocean water, and water from large bodies of fresh water, to percolate into landmasses. That water then evaporates as it nears the surface, due to the storage of heat in earth and rock, and that evaporation exacerbates the formation of vortices, feeding into and filling them with water vapor.