The deflection of air masses to the right or left (depending on latitude) as they move from one latitude to another is called the:

a. Coriolis effect.

b. Hadley cell.

c. Saffir-Simpson scale.

d. Cyclonic effect.

e. Ekman spiral.

The coriolis effect is the force produced by the rotation of the Earth in space, which tends to deflect the trajectory of objects that move on the surface of the earth; to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left, in the south. Said 'object' for this particular case is the mass of air. Therefore the correct answer is A: Coriolis effect.