Describe jet streams by using the information in the reading, and provide examples of the way that they affect air travel by drawing on the material that you heard in the lecture.

The reading gives information on the working procedures of Jet streams and the Professor in the lecture substantiates it with relevant examples. Jet Streams are basically irregular bands of winds happening in high altitudes at about 20,000 feet. They are concentrated in the troposphere area where weather patterns are normally noticed. They can be compared to a river which moves from west to east.

The Jet streams normally move more than 57 miles an hour; the strongest ones are at a speed of 300 miles an hour due to the high contrast of surface temperature with that of the temperature in the troposphere. The reading specifies two kinds of Jet streams that occur among the equator and the North pole. The Subtropical Jet stream are concentrated in the southern borders of US. Whereas, the Polar jet streams are blown over Idaho and Montana.

Difference in temperature between the tropic and arctic regions leads to concentration in small zones called fronts. The Professor quotes that cold air blows in the northern regions like Texas, Mexico and warm air over the southern regions like Canada. The reading states that the jet streams also lead to storms along their paths. The Professor discusses a practical application of this process. The airlines are scheduled according to the Jet stream patterns. The trip from Los Angeles to New York might not take the same time as the converse(from New York to Los Angeles). This is because the Jet streams may move along the storms in one direction. In this case, the speed of the plane as such is increased. On the other hand, in the return path, the streams will move opposite to the streams direction. Thus this will slow down the plane's speed and it will take lots of time.

In addition to the effect of Jet Streams on storms, the Professor also adds that the fuel usage will be increased if the distance traveled by the plane is to be long enough. A feeling of turbulence would also result in such circumstances. The weather conditions are also taken into consideration as the case similar to the tailwind affecting the plane's movement.

Thus the Professor makes the working of Jet Streams clear by providing a practical example of its application to plane movement. Hence Jet Streams seem to be of important use and they ought to be taken into consideration while planning a flight. Moreover, the Professor also acknowledges the two types of Jet Streams and provides more examples of cities in which these Jet Streams blow so as to get a clear-cut idea.