From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.png/300px-Ocean_currents_1943_(borderless).png)
Schematic of the world's ocean currents.
The North Atlantic Current (North Atlantic Drift and the North Atlantic Sea Movement) is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. West of Ireland it splits in two. One branch (the Canary Current) goes south while the other continues north along the coast of northwestern Europe where it has a considerable warming influence on the climate. Other branches include the Irminger Current and the Norwegian Current. Driven by the global thermohaline circulation (THC), the North Atlantic Current is also often considered part of the wind-driven Gulf Stream which goes further east and north from the North American coast, across the Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean.
Climate change, especially global warming, may have a significant effect on the current. A 2005 Nature study in December of 2005 found that the North Atlantic Current “has slowed by about 30 per cent between 1957 and 2004,”[1], a finding that was met with some skepticism at the time [1]which later proved justified [2].
[edit] References
- ^ Bryden, Harry L.; Longworth, Hannah R.; Cunningham, Stuart A. (2005). "Slowing of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation at 25° N". Nature 438: 655–657. doi:10.1038/nature04385.
- ^ Kerr, Richard A. (2006). "False Alarm: Atlantic Conveyor Belt Hasn't Slowed Down After All". Science 314 (5802): 1064. doi:10.1126/science.314.5802.1064a. PMID 17110545.
