Wind and Ocean Currents of the World

Wind and Ocean Currents

Wind and ocean currents are forces of nature caused by gravity, temperate, the gravitational pull of the sun and moon and salinity differences. Ocean currents affect weather, food chains, human activity and can cause natural disasters.

Currents are of large importance to all living organisms, having many uses. They give oxygen, heat and food to all oceans. Ocean currents also have a large impact on the food chain.

The Gulf Stream is one of many currents of the world. It is a major current that runs from Africa to Europe up into the Artic, back down past North, Central and South America. The Gulf Stream supplies a form of transport for young eels traveling from Africa to Europe or North America. The Gulf Stream is important because it makes the United Kingdom more temperate.

The Agulhas current is one of the largest currents in the Indian Ocean. It is the Western boundary current of the South-West Indian Ocean and is part of the westward flowing South Equatorial Current. It is narrow swift and strong. The East Madagascar Current and the Mozambique Current veer of the Agulhas Current.

The California Current is an important current in the Atlantic Ocean. It travels South beginning at Southern British Colombia and finishes at Southern Baja California. The cold waters supply lots of food but during El Nino that all changes. El Nino is a natural phenomenon that changes the direction of the Trade winds. This leads to declines in phytoplankton resulting with a domino affect up the food chain.

The Leeuwin Current is a warm ocean current. It rounds Cape Leeuwin to enter South of Australia where its influence extends as far as Tasmania. The West Australian Current and the Southern Australian Countercurrent which flow in the opposite direction, create one of the most interesting oceanic current systems in the world.

Ocean currents are fascinating but due to global warming it is damaging some creating natural disasters and other things, for example, El Nino and La Nina’s have increased due to global warming. It has to be stopped.