Ocean current
hideAn ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon the water, such as the Earth's rotation, wind, temperature, salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. Depth contours, shoreline configurations and interaction with other currents influence a current's direction and strength.
Ocean currents can flow for thousands of kilometers, and together they create the great flow of the global conveyor belt which plays a dominant part in determining the climate of many of the Earth’s regions. Perhaps the most striking example is the Gulf Stream, which makes northwest Europe much more temperate than any other region at the same latitude. Another example is the Hawaiian Islands, where the climate is cooler (sub-tropical) than the tropical latitudes in which they are located, because of the effect of the California Current.
For more information about Ocean current, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with ocean circulation
Aquatic creatures mix ocean water
Nov 22, 2009 |
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Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niño on our weather. Modern ocean models primarily incorporate the effects of winds and tides. However, ...
Two More Earth's Chandler Wobble Jumps Revealed, Last in 2005
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Chandler Wobble is a small variation in the rotation of the Earth on its axis. It has been known for some time that the phase of the Chandler Wobble jumped by 180 degrees in the 1920s, ...
Dead Ahead: Similar Early Warning Signals of Change in Climate, Ecosystems, Financial Markets, Human Health
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth's climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and ...
Long debate ended over cause, demise of ice ages -- may also help predict future
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 06, 2009 |
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Researchers have largely put to rest a long debate on the underlying mechanism that has caused periodic ice ages on Earth for the past 2.5 million years - they are ultimately linked to slight shifts in solar radiation caused ...
Mini Gradiometer Could Map Other Planets' Gravity Fields
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Although it may seem like gravity is the same everywhere on the Earth, it actually varies a small amount from place to place. Factors such as mountains, ocean trenches, and interior density ...
Sea Level Rise Due to Global Warming Poses Threat to New York City
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Global warming is expected to cause the sea level along the northeastern U.S. coast to rise almost twice as fast as global sea levels during this century, putting New York City at greater ...
GOCE delivering data for best gravity map ever (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Following the launch and in-orbit testing of the most sophisticated gravity mission ever built, ESA’s GOCE satellite is now in ‘measurement mode’, mapping tiny variations in Earth’s gravity ...
Melting Greenland ice sheets may threaten Northeast United States, Canada
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 27, 2009 |
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Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United ...
Research indicates ocean current shutdown may be gradual
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 16, 2009 |
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The findings of a major new study are consistent with gradual changes of current systems in the North Atlantic Ocean, rather than a more sudden shutdown that could lead to rapid climate changes in Europe and elsewhere.
GOCE launch: Mapping the Earth’s gravity as never before
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA is about to launch the most sophisticated of Earth Observation satellites to investigate the Earth’s gravitational field with unprecedented resolution and accuracy.
Lobster Traps Going High Tech
Mar 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New England lobstermen have gone high tech by adding low-cost instruments to their lobster pots that record bottom temperature and provide data that could help improve ocean circulation models ...
Earth Explorer mission GOCE launches
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 17, 2009 |
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This afternoon, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) was lofted into a near-Sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit by a Rockot ...
Oceanic seesaw links Northern and Southern hemisphere during abrupt climate change
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Feb 25, 2009 |
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Very large and abrupt changes in temperature recorded over Greenland and across the North Atlantic during the last Ice Age were actually global in extent, according to an international team of researchers led by Cardiff University.
Launch of European gravity probe delayed
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 16, 2009 |
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The launch of a pioneering European satellite designed to map Earth's gravity field was delayed due to technical problems and will take place Tuesday, Russia's Khrunichev Space Centre said.
Sunlight has more powerful influence on ocean circulation and climate than North American ice sheets
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 06, 2008 |
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A study reported in today's issue of Nature disputes a longstanding picture of how ice sheets influence ocean circulation during glacial periods.
