Which Way the Wind Blows

The Earth's structure is that it is a sphere, and is tilted about 23.5 degrees, which explains the uneven heating. When it's warm and sunny here in Massachusetts, Japan could be in the middle of winter. This is the effect of the rays from the sun; some parts of the Earth they are always directly on there.

The movement of the wind and water is effected by the Earth's rotation. The Coriolis effect changes the Earth's wind patterns. This was demonstrated in an activity done in class, in which one person spun a circular piece of paper on a nail, and another person dropped a bit of water on the paper, and the water moved everywhere, making this symbol.

There are differences within the global wind patterns.  In 60-90 there are the Polar Easterlies, blowing from east to north.  From north to west are the Westerlies in 30-60 degrees.