What Is the Difference between Trade Winds and Westerlies?

Short answer: They blow in opposite directions.

Westerlies are prevailing winds that blow from West to East, while trade winds also known as easterlies blow from east to west.

Additionally they have opposite axial directions as trade winds go towards the Equator, while westerlies are poleward. Thus they inhabit different latitudes.

They are divided by the horse latitudes of around 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South. The trade winds prevail between these and the Equator, while the westerlies dominate polewards outside of these.

[kma]

The channel's name is French, but I'm hearing a Dutch (Belgian, maybe?) accent. I could be wildly off. Either way, interesting information and the graphics help show the concepts nicely. For anyone with an interest in the Age of Sail, this is a great explainer!

[GoofyGoober]

I've just discovered your channel and all the questions I've asked but not could never find an answer to (such was the purpose of Galleons/Caravels, etc), you've made a video about. Even this, I had been wondering for a long time. Thank you so much!

[paullangford]

The trade winds are easterlies. The go in the opposite direction. The speed of the air has not caught up with the rotation of the earth.

[MarkVrem]

When people accuse Columbus of believing that the Earth was smaller than the fairly accurate calculations of the globe they had at the time. Is that something misconstrued? Where maybe he was just leaning on the knowledge of the Westerlies to get him around faster than people expected.