What Type of Weathering Does Air Cause?

Air often causes considerable damage to exposed objects. Equipment, buildings or machinery left outside without protection suffer from air's weathering effects. Air erodes, alters colors and changes the texture of articles left outside.

Erosion

• Air affects minerals, rocks and mountains through a process called erosion. Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak in the Appalachian Mountains, is 6,684 feet tall today. However, it used to be as tall, if not taller, than the Rocky Mountain's 14,000 feet elevations. The Appalachians are some of the oldest mountains in the world, and constant exposure to air has weathered them down. Air and wind move and break down Earth's rocks, soils and minerals, turning this into sand and dirt known as sediment.

Paint Oxidation on Cars

• A car's finish has a wet look to it when it is in good shape, even when it is dry. A car's paint needs oils to make it shine as if it were wet, but air combined with ultraviolet rays from the sun dry up these oils. Smog, or dirty air, further complicates the oxidation process. When this happens, the paint oxidizes. Under the lens of a microscope, weathered paint resembles a cracked and dry desert lake bed. Regular wax treatments and polish protects your cars paint against air's weathering effects.

House Paint and Siding

• Air erosion and abrasion scores and pits everything in its path. When winds pick up dust and sand particles, anything in its way experiences a sandblasting. Sandstorms caused by high desert winds strips the meat from the bones of dead desert creatures, eventually eroding the bones away. It can also pockmark a car's windshield so that you cannot see through it. These same effects, on a much smaller scale, occur to house paint and natural siding materials exposed to the air.

Vehicle Tires

• Recreational vehicles or trailer tires that sit for a long time dry and crack when not protected from air erosion. Combined with the power of the sun, tires left exposed will rot and fall off the rim. To prevent this from happening when storing a trailer or recreational vehicle, place a cover over the vehicle to protect its paint, and place a wheel cover, such as plywood cutout, in front of the tires. Protect tires by regularly treating them with an oil-based product designed for this use.

Air and Weather

• When powered by a forceful weather system, such as a hurricane or tornado, the power of air's effects as wind devastates most anything in front of it. In hurricanes, whole roofs blow off. In tornadoes, whole houses blow away. These types of air effects occur when warm and cold air masses meet, creating violet storms that swirl around an epicenter. Hurricanes form over the ocean, but tornadoes form over land.