The future of the ocean: The Gulf Stream has punched a hole in global warming. Where is the Golf Stream? The warm current of the Golf Stream on the world map

GOLFSTREAM , (English Gulf Stream, literally - gulf current), a warm current in the North Atlantic. In a broad sense, hydrodynamics is a powerful system of warm currents that extends 10,000 km from the coast of the Florida Peninsula to the islands of Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. The Gulf proper begins in the southern part of the Strait of Florida as the drainage current of the Gulf of Mexico at its confluence with the waters of the Antilles Current and continues to the Great Newfoundland Bank. The reason for its origin is the large surge of water by trade winds through the Yucatan Strait into the Gulf of Mexico and the resulting significant difference in levels between the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent part of the Atlantic Ocean. When entering the ocean, the power of the current is 25 million m³/sec. (2160 km³ per day), which is 20 times the flow of all rivers on the globe. In the ocean, it connects with the Antilles Current, and the power of the G. increases by 38° N. w. Reaches 82 million m³/sec. One of the features of hydrodynamics is that, in violation of the general pattern of movement in the Northern Hemisphere, this current, upon exiting the ocean, deviates not to the right under the influence of the force of the Earth’s rotation, but to the left. In the ocean, G. moves in a northerly direction, along the edge of the continental shallows of North America, and at Cape Hatteras it deviates to the northeast, towards the Newfoundland Bank. After passing it, at approximately 40° W. etc., the Atlantic Ocean itself turns into the North Atlantic Current, which, under the influence of western and southwestern winds, crosses the ocean from east to west, gradually changing direction off the coast of Europe to the northeast. When approaching the port of Thomson, a branch separates from the North Atlantic Current - the warm Irminger Current, which partially enters the Greenland Sea, skirting Iceland from the west, but the main mass moves to the west, skirts Greenland from the south and follows along its western coast called the West Coast. Greenland Current in the Baffin Sea. The main flow of the North Atlantic Current continues into the Norwegian Sea and follows north along the western coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula under the name of the Norwegian Current. At the northern tip of the Scandinavian Peninsula, a branch separates from it - the North Cape Current, which follows east along the southern part of the Barents Sea. The main flow of the Norwegian Current continues to the north and, under the name of the Spitsbergen Current, passes along the western shores of Spitsbergen. North of Spitsbergen, this current plunges to depths and can be traced in the Arctic Ocean under cold and desalinated surface waters as a warm and salty intermediate current. The width of the sea in different parts of the sea is 75–200 km, the thickness of the flow is 700–800 m, the speed is 80–300 cm/sec, and the water temperature on the surface is from 10 to 28°C. The system of warm currents in Greece has a great influence on the hydrological and biological characteristics of both the seas and the Arctic Ocean itself and on the climate of European countries adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Masses of warm water heat the air passing over them, which is carried by westerly winds to Europe (southern trees grow in western Norway at the latitude of Magadan). One of the branches of the Gulf Stream - the North Cape Current - reaches the Kola Peninsula, allowing the Kola Bay and the waters of the sea ports on Murman, in particular, not to freeze (the air temperature in Murmansk deviates from the average values ​​​​at this latitude to 11ºС).
In Russia, F. F. Yarzhinsky announced the passage of geology along the Murmansk coast for the first time after studying the temperature regime of the Barents Sea at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society in 1870 (previously there was a hypothesis of the German geographer A. Peterman). Subsequent observations by Academician A.F. Middendorf confirmed his data, although in the capital they were of the opinion that “there is no and cannot be any Golfström.” N. M. Knipovich with the staff of the Murmansk scientific and fishing expedition (1898–1908) discovered 4 branches of the North Cape warm current in the Barents Sea. The southern one, Murmanskaya, ran parallel to the coast of the Kola Peninsula, then dividing into two streams (towards Novaya Zemlya and the Kaninsky Shoal). The expedition established a connection between the migration of juveniles of bottom species and their accumulation on shallows and banks with the warm currents of the river, and it was proposed to expand the fishing area. New opportunities in the study of geology opened up in the middle of the 20th century. with the advent of more advanced scientific equipment.

Lit.: Middendorf A.F. Golfstrem to the east of the North Cape. - St. Petersburg, 1871; Shuleikin V.V. Physics of the sea. - M., 1953; Stommel G. Gulf Stream. - M., 1963; Gershman I.G. The Gulf Stream and its influence on climate // Meteorology and Hydrology. 1939. No. 7–8.

Scheme of heat transfer by the Gulf Stream Group:

• Climate; atmosphere

VOCABULARY > G
THEMATIC INDEX > SCIENCE > Natural (mathematics, physics, geography, geology, chemistry, biology, study of the seas, etc.)
THEMATIC INDEX > NATURE > Water resources (seas, rivers, lakes, bays)
THEMATIC INDEX > NATURE > Climate; atmosphere

The Gulf Stream is a powerful warm Atlantic current. The influence of the Gulf Stream is noticeable even in the Arctic Ocean in the form of the North Cape and Norwegian Currents. The Gulf Stream is responsible for unstable weather conditions in this area. GOLF STREAM, a warm current in the mid-latitudes of the North Atlantic Ocean, moving in a northeasterly direction. The fastest current in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream is one of the very powerful forces of nature.

The water flow of the Gulf Stream is about 50 million cubic meters of water every second, which is 20 times more than the flow of all the world's rivers combined. Locally, in each individual region, the direction and nature of the current are also determined by the outline of the continents, temperature conditions, salinity distribution and other factors.

The Gulf Stream in a broad sense is the entire system of warm currents in the North Atlantic, the core and main driving force of which is the Gulf Stream

It is known that north of Cape Hatteras the Gulf Stream is losing stability. It exhibits quasi-periodic fluctuations with a period of 1.5-2 years, similar to fluctuations in the jet stream in the atmosphere, known as the index cycle. Considering the influence of the Gulf Stream on the climate, it is assumed that in the short-term historical perspective a climate catastrophe associated with disruption of the flow is possible.

In particular, according to Doctor of Geographical Sciences, oceanologist A.L. Bondarenko, “the mode of operation of the Gulf Stream will not change.” This is argued by the fact that no actual water transfer occurs, that is, the flow is a Rossby wave. It carries heated water masses from the Indian Ocean and the south Atlantic to the northwestern coast of Europe.

But the North Atlantic Gulf Stream can't explain all the disappearances

Thanks to the Gulf Stream, European countries adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean have a milder climate compared to regions lying at the same latitude. Over the North Atlantic, westerly winds remove heat from masses of warm water and are transferred to Europe.

This current is directed in a narrow stream along the coast of North America. An additional factor of deviation in the eastern direction is the Coriolis force. The continuation of the Gulf Stream to the northeast of the Great Newfoundland Bank is the North Atlantic Current.

Now the Gulf Stream for Europe and the USA is a generous gift of nature to their economies and populations.

The northern hemisphere weather kitchen is located in the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean. The Gulf Stream acts as a heating system in it; it is also called the “stove of Europe”. The cold and denser Labrador Current “dives” under the warm and lighter Gulf Stream without preventing it from warming Europe.

The density of the Labrador Current waters is only 0.1% higher than the density of the Gulf Stream waters. As a result, the Barents Sea does not freeze all year round, and in Europe palm trees grow and houses with cardboard walls are built. If suddenly the Labrador Current becomes equal in density to the Gulf Stream, it will rise closer to the surface of the ocean and block its movement to the north. That's it, we've arrived. We get a diagram of ice age currents.

Studies of ice in Greenland show that climate change processes could occur within three to ten years. Over the next few years, air temperatures in Europe will be equal to those in Siberia. Now giant oil spills have been discovered in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has been leaking for months from a well drilled by BP on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Norwegian Current disappeared along with it. The first to report the stoppage of the Gulf Stream in August 2010 was Dr. Zangari, a theoretical physicist from Italy. The average water temperature in the north of the Gulf Stream dropped by 10 degrees.

The Gulf Stream is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that bends around Florida and flows along the east coast of the United States to approximately 37 degrees north latitude. and then breaks away from the coast to the east

Letters are coming to the editor asking for clarification on whether the warm current will really disappear soon. Similar currents exist in the Pacific Ocean - Kuroshio, and in the Southern Hemisphere.

For the same reason, the Northern Hemisphere as a whole is slightly warmer than the Southern. The primary reason for the unusual nature of the North Atlantic is that slightly more water evaporates over the Atlantic than falls as precipitation.

In place of the water that has sank into the depths of the North Atlantic, water comes from the south, this is the North Atlantic Current. Thus, the causes of the North Atlantic Current are global, and are unlikely to be significantly affected by such a local event as an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But even this magnitude of seasonal anomalies is quite common and is observed in one region or another almost every year. Reports that the Gulf Stream between the 76th and 47th meridians in 2010 became colder by 10 degrees Celsius are also not confirmed. But the ice continued to melt, and at some point, water from the lake began to flow into the North Atlantic, desalinizing it and thereby preventing the sinking of the water and the North Atlantic Current.

A continuation of the Gulf Stream is the North Atlantic Current, carrying a cooled stream in the north to the Southern Hemisphere. Changes in the continuity of the Gulf Stream are a topic of debate in scientific circles. Several factors are involved in the origin and direction of the Gulf Stream. Almost a third is in the path of the Gulf Stream. The first refers to the Gulf Stream itself - an ocean current along the eastern coast of North America up to 90 kilometers wide and with a speed of up to several meters per second.

Oceans, lakes and rivers

Gulf Stream Current

In Western Europe, as well as on the east coast of the United States, the climate is quite mild. Thus, on the coast of Florida, the average water temperature is very rarely below 22° Celsius. This is during the winter months. In summer, the air heats up to 36°-39° Celsius with humidity reaching 100%. This temperature regime extends far to the east and north. It covers the states: Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, as well as North and South Carolina.

All these administrative entities lie in an area of ​​humid subtropical climate, where the summer average daily temperature does not fall below 25° Celsius, and in the winter months it very rarely drops to 0° Celsius.

If we take Western Europe, then the Iberian, Apennine and Balkan peninsulas, as well as the entire southern part of France, are located in the subtropical zone. Summer temperatures there range from 26°-28° Celsius. In winter, these indicators drop to 2°-5° Celsius, but almost never reach 0°.

In Scandinavia, the average winter temperature ranges from minus 4° to 2° Celsius. In the summer months it rises to 8°-14°. That is, even in the northern regions the climate is quite acceptable and suitable for comfortable living.

Gulf Stream Current

This temperature bliss occurs in a vast region for a reason. It is directly connected with the Gulf Stream ocean current. It is what shapes the climate and gives people the opportunity to enjoy warm weather almost all year round.

The Gulf Stream is a whole system of warm currents in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its full length covers a distance of 10 thousand kilometers from the sultry shores of Florida to the ice-covered islands of Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. Huge masses of water begin to move in the Strait of Florida. Their volume reaches 25 million cubic meters per second.

The Gulf Stream moves slowly and majestically along the east coast of North America and crosses 40° N. w. Near the island of Newfoundland it meets the Labrador Current. The latter carries cold waters to the south and forces warm water flows to turn east.

After such a collision, the Gulf Stream splits into two currents. One rushes north and turns into the North Atlantic Current. This is what shapes the climate in Western Europe. The remaining mass reaches the coast of Spain and turns south. Off the coast of Africa, it meets the North Trade Wind Current and deviates to the west, ending its journey in the Sargasso Sea, from which it is a stone's throw to the Gulf of Mexico. Then the cycle of huge masses of water repeats.

This has been going on for thousands of years. Sometimes a powerful warm current weakens, slows down, reduces heat transfer, and then cold falls on the ground. An example of this is the Little Ice Age. Europeans observed it in the XIV-XIX centuries. Every heat-loving resident of Europe has experienced first-hand what a real frosty, snowy winter is like.

True, before this, in the 8th-13th centuries there was a noticeable warming. In other words, the Gulf Stream was gaining power and releasing a very large amount of heat into the atmosphere. Accordingly, on the lands of the European continent the weather was very warm, and snowy, cold winters had not been observed for centuries.

Nowadays, powerful warm streams of water also influence the climate as in former times. Nothing has changed under the sun, and the laws of nature remain the same. But man has come very far in his technological progress. His tireless activities triggered the Greenhouse Effect.

The result was the melting of the ice of Greenland and the Arctic Ocean. Huge masses of fresh water poured into the salt waters and rushed south. Nowadays, this situation is already beginning to affect the powerful warm current. Some experts predict an imminent stop of the Gulf Stream, since it will not be able to cope with the influx of incoming waters. This will entail a sharp cooling in Western Europe and the east coast of North America.

The situation was aggravated by the largest accident at the Tiber oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Underwater in the bowels of the earth, geologists have found huge oil reserves, estimated at 1.8 billion tons. Experts drilled a well, the depth of which was 10,680 meters. Of these, 1259 meters were in the ocean water column. In April 2010, a fire broke out on an oil platform. It burned for two days and claimed the lives of 11 people. But it was, although tragic, a prelude to what happened after that.

The burnt platform sank, and oil began to flow from the well into the open ocean. According to official sources, 700 tons of oil entered the waters of the Gulf of Mexico per day. However, independent experts gave a different figure—13.5 thousand tons per day.

The oil film, huge in its area, hindered the movement of Atlantic waters, and this, accordingly, began to negatively affect heat transfer. Hence, there was a disruption in the circulation of Atlantic air flows. They no longer had the strength to move east and create the usual mild climate there.

The result was a terrible heat wave in Eastern Europe in the summer of 2010, when air temperatures rose to 45° Celsius. This was caused by winds from North Africa. They, without encountering any resistance on their way, brought a hot and dry cyclone to the north. It hovered over a vast territory and stayed above it for almost two months, destroying all living things.

At the same time, Western Europe was shocked by terrible floods, as heavy, moisture-filled clouds coming from the Atlantic did not have enough strength to break through the dry and hot front. They were forced to dump tons of water onto the ground. All this provoked a sharp rise in river levels and, as a result, various disasters and human tragedies.

What are the immediate prospects, and what awaits old Europe in the near future? Experts say that dramatic climate changes will begin to be felt as early as 2020. Western Europe faces cooling and rising sea levels. This will provoke impoverishment of the middle class, since its money is invested in real estate, which will sharply fall in price.

From here, political and social tension will arise in all layers of society. The consequences of this can be the most tragic. It is simply impossible to predict anything specific, since there are many scenarios for the development of events. Only one thing is clear: difficult times are coming.

The Gulf Stream, nowadays, thanks to global warming and the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, is practically closed in a ring and does not provide sufficient thermal energy to the North Atlantic Current. Accordingly, air flows are disrupted. Completely different winds are beginning to dominate over European territory. The usual climate balance is being disrupted - this is already noticeable with the naked eye.

In such a situation, anyone can be overwhelmed by a feeling of anxiety and hopelessness. Of course, not for the fate of hundreds of millions of people, since this is too vague and unclear, but for the specific fate of their relatives and friends. But it is premature to despair, let alone panic. Nobody knows how it will actually be there.

The future is full of surprises. It is entirely possible that global warming is not global warming at all. This is a normal increase in temperatures as part of the climate cycle. Its duration is 60 years. That is, for six decades the temperature on the planet has been steadily increasing, and over the next 60 years it has been slowly decreasing. The beginning of the last cycle dates back to the end of 1979. It turns out that half the journey has already been completed and we only have to wait 30 years.

The Gulf Stream is too powerful a stream of water to simply change direction or disappear. There may be some failures and deviations, but they will never turn into global and irreversible processes. There are simply no prerequisites for this. At least these days they are not observed.

Yuri Syromyatnikov

Education

A warm current is... Main characteristics of currents. The most famous warm currents

The warm current is the Gulf Stream, El Niño, Kuroshio. What other currents exist? Why are they called warm? Read about it further.

Where do currents come from?

Currents are directional flows of water masses. They can have different widths and depths - from several meters to hundreds of kilometers. Their speed can reach up to 9 km/h. The direction of water flows is determined by the rotational force of our planet. Thanks to it, currents in the Southern Hemisphere deviate to the right, and in the Northern Hemisphere - to the left.

The formation and character of currents is influenced by many conditions. The reason for their appearance may be the wind, the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun, different densities and temperatures, and the water level of the World Ocean. Most often, several factors contribute to the formation of currents.

There is a neutral, cold and warm current in the ocean. They are defined as such not because of the temperature of their own water masses, but because of the difference with the temperature of the surrounding waters. This means that the current can be warm, even if its waters are considered cold by many indicators. For example, the Gulf Stream is warm, although its temperature ranges from 4 to 6 degrees, and the temperature of the cold Benguela Current is up to 20 degrees.

A warm current is one that forms near the equator. They form in warm waters and move to colder ones. In turn, cold currents move towards the equator. Neutral currents are those that do not differ in temperature from the surrounding waters.

Warm currents

Currents influence the climate of coastal areas. Warm water currents warm the ocean waters. They contribute to a mild climate, high air humidity and large amounts of precipitation. Forests form on the banks next to which warm waters flow. There are such warm currents of the World Ocean:

Pacific Ocean Basin

• East Australian.
• Alaskan.
• Kuroshio.
• El Niño.

Indian Ocean Basin

Atlantic Ocean Basin

• Irminger.
• Brazilian.
• Guiana.
• Gulf Stream.
• North Atlantic.

Arctic Ocean Basin

• West Spitsbergen.
• Norwegian.
• West Greenland.

Video on the topic

Gulf Stream

The warm Atlantic current, one of the largest in the Northern Hemisphere, is the Gulf Stream. It begins in the Gulf of Mexico, enters the waters of the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Florida and moves in a northeasterly direction.

The current carries a lot of floating algae and various fish. Its width reaches up to 90 kilometers, and the temperature is 4-6 degrees Celsius. The waters of the Gulf Stream have a bluish tint, contrasting with the surrounding greenish ocean water. It is not homogeneous, and consists of several streams that can separate from the general flow.

The Gulf Stream is a warm current. Meeting with the cold Labrador Current in the Newfoundland area, it contributes to the frequent formation of fogs along the coast. In the very center of the North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream divides, forming the Canary and North Atlantic currents.

El Niño

El Niño is also a warm current - the most powerful current. It is not constant and occurs once every few years. Its appearance is accompanied by a sharp increase in water temperature in the surface layers of the ocean. But this is not the only sign of El Niño.

Other warm currents of the World Ocean can hardly compare with the power of influence of this “baby” (as the name of the current is translated). Together with warm waters, the current brings with it strong winds and hurricanes, fires, droughts, and prolonged rains. Residents of coastal areas are suffering from the damage caused by El Niño. Vast areas are flooded, leading to the destruction of crops and livestock.

The current is formed in the Pacific Ocean, in its equatorial part. It stretches along the coast of Peru and Chile, replacing the cold Humboldt Current. When El Niño occurs, fishermen also suffer. Its warm waters trap cold waters (which are rich in plankton) and prevent them from rising to the surface. In this case, the fish do not come to these territories to feed, leaving fishermen without a catch.

Kuroshio

In the Pacific Ocean, another warm current is the Kuroshio. It flows near the eastern and southern coasts of Japan. The current is often defined as a continuation of the Northern Trade Wind. The main reason for its formation is the difference in levels between the ocean and the East China Sea.

Flowing between the straits of Ryukkyu Island, the Kuroshio becomes the North Pacific Current, which turns into the Alaskan Current off the coast of America.

It has similar features to the Gulf Stream. It forms a whole system of warm currents in the Pacific Ocean, just like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. Thanks to this, Kuroshio is an important climate-forming factor, softening the climate of coastal areas. The current also has a strong influence on the water area, being an important hydrobiological factor.

The waters of the Japanese current are characterized by a dark blue color, hence its name “Kuroshio”, which translates as “black current” or “dark water”. The current reaches a width of 170 kilometers, and its depth is about 700 meters. Kuroshio's speed ranges from 1 to 6 km/h. The water temperature of the current is 25 -28 degrees in the south and about 15 degrees in the north.

Conclusion

The formation of currents is influenced by many factors, and sometimes a combination of them.

A current whose temperature exceeds the temperature of the surrounding waters is called warm. At the same time, the water in the current can be quite cold. The most famous warm currents are the Gulf Stream, which flows in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Pacific Kuroshio and El Niño currents. The latter occurs periodically, bringing with it a chain of environmental disasters.

E. Volodin, Ph.D. physics and mathematics Sci.

Rumors do not subside about the weakening of the Gulf Stream, which is either due to an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, or due to the strong melting of Arctic ice, and that this threatens us with unheard-of climate disasters, right up to the onset of a new ice age. Letters are coming to the editor asking for clarification on whether the warm current will really disappear soon. Evgeniy Volodin, a leading researcher at the Institute of Computational Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, answers readers' questions.

Rice. 1. Anomaly (deviation) of surface temperature in September-November 2010 compared to September-November 1970-2009. Data from NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, USA).

Rice. 2. Difference in ocean surface temperatures in June 2010 and June 2009. GODAS data.

Rice. 3. Difference in ocean surface temperatures in September-November 2010 and September-November 2009. GODAS data.

Rice. 4. Current speeds in June 2010 at a depth of 50 m, according to GODAS data. The arrows indicate the direction, the color indicates the speed (m/s).

The Gulf Stream is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that bends around Florida and flows along the east coast of the United States to approximately 37 degrees north latitude. and then breaks away from the coast to the east. Similar currents exist in the Pacific Ocean - Kuroshio, and in the Southern Hemisphere. The uniqueness of the Gulf Stream lies in the fact that after breaking away from the American coast, it does not turn back to the subtropics, but partially penetrates into high latitudes, where it is already called the North Atlantic Current. It is thanks to him that in the north of the Atlantic the temperature is 5-10 degrees higher than at similar latitudes in the Pacific Ocean or in the Southern Hemisphere. For the same reason, the Northern Hemisphere as a whole is slightly warmer than the Southern.

The primary reason for the unusual nature of the North Atlantic is that slightly more water evaporates over the Atlantic than falls as precipitation. Over the Pacific Ocean, on the contrary, precipitation slightly exceeds evaporation. Therefore, in the Atlantic, water on average is somewhat saltier than in the Pacific Ocean, and therefore heavier than the fresher Pacific Ocean, and therefore it tends to sink to the bottom. This happens especially intensely in the north Atlantic, where the salty water is also made heavier by cooling on the surface. In place of the water that has sank into the depths of the North Atlantic, water comes from the south, this is the North Atlantic Current.

Thus, the causes of the North Atlantic Current are global, and are unlikely to be significantly affected by such a local event as an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the most pessimistic estimates, the area of ​​the oil slick is one hundred thousand square kilometers, while the area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean is slightly less than one hundred million square kilometers (that is, a thousand times larger than the slick). According to the NCEP atmospheric reanalysis data (National Centers for Environmental Prediction, USA) - synthesized data from satellites, ground-based observation stations, soundings, “assimilated” by the atmospheric dynamics model (NCEP's Global Forecast System - GFS), there is nothing wrong with the warm currents of the North Atlantic hasn't happened yet. Take a look at the map compiled from this data (Figure 1). In September-November 2010, the deviation of surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in that part of the Atlantic where the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Current pass, from the average value in the same months of 1970-2009 does not exceed one degree Celsius. Only in the northwest Atlantic, in the region of the cold Labrador Current, do these anomalies reach two to three degrees. But even this magnitude of seasonal anomalies is quite common and is observed in one region or another almost every year.

Reports that the Gulf Stream between the 76th and 47th meridians in 2010 became colder by 10 degrees Celsius are also not confirmed. According to GODAS data (Global Ocean Data Assimilation System - a system for assimilation of all available observational data - satellites, ships, buoys, etc. - using an ocean dynamics model), the average ocean surface temperature in June 2010 was between about 40 and 70 degrees west was lower than in June 2009, by only one or two degrees, and only in one place - by almost three degrees (Fig. 2). But such temperature anomalies are well within the framework of natural variability. They are usually accompanied by "outliers" of a different sign in nearby ocean areas, which is what happened in the summer of 2010, according to GODAS data. So if they were averaged over the entire North Atlantic, the average temperature deviation was close to zero. In addition, such phenomena usually last for several months, and in the fall the negative anomaly was no longer visible (Fig. 3).

The existence of the Gulf Stream is well confirmed by GODAS data on horizontal current velocities at a depth of 50 m, averaged for June 2010. The map compiled from this data (Fig. 4) shows that the Gulf Stream, as always, flows through the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida and along the eastern coast of the United States. Then it breaks away from the shore, becomes wider, and at the same time the speed of the current drops (as it should be), that is, nothing unusual can be traced. According to GODAS, the Gulf Stream flows in approximately the same way in other months of 2010. Note that 50 m is the most typical depth at which the Gulf Stream is best visible. For example, surface currents may differ from those at a depth of 50 m, most often due to the influence of wind.

However, there have been cases in history when events similar to those described in the now widespread “horror stories” occurred. The last such event occurred about 14 thousand years ago. Then the ice age ended, and in North America a huge lake was formed from melted ice, dammed by a glacier that had not yet melted. But the ice continued to melt, and at some point, water from the lake began to flow into the North Atlantic, desalinizing it and thereby preventing the sinking of the water and the North Atlantic Current. As a result, Europe has become noticeably colder, especially in winter. But then, according to existing estimates, the impact on the climate system was enormous, because the fresh water flow was about 10 6 m 3 /s. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than, for example, the current flow of all Russian rivers.

Another important point that I would like to emphasize: seasonal average atmospheric circulation anomalies in temperate latitudes depend to a very small extent on ocean surface temperature anomalies, including such large ones as were observed this summer in European Russia. Experts in seasonal weather forecasting claim that only 10-30% of deviations from the “norm” of the average seasonal temperature at any point in Russia are due to ocean surface temperature anomalies, and the remaining 70-90% are the result of natural atmospheric variability, the root cause of which is unequal heating high and low latitudes and which is almost impossible to predict for more than two to three weeks (see also “Science and Life” No. 12, 2010).

That is why it is wrong to consider the observed weather anomalies in Europe in the summer of 2010 or in any other season to be the result of only the influence of the ocean. If this were so, seasonal or monthly weather deviations from the “norm” would be easily predicted, since large ocean temperature anomalies, as a rule, are inertial and last at least several months. But so far no forecasting center in the world has been able to produce a good seasonal weather forecast.

If we talk specifically about the causes of the anomaly in the summer of 2010 in Russia, it was caused by the interaction of two coincidentally coinciding factors: a blocking anticyclone, which caused the transfer of air to the central regions of Russia mainly from the east-southeast, and soil drought in the Volga region and the Urals, which allowed the spreading air not to waste heat on evaporating water from the surface. As a result, the increase in air temperature at the surface was truly unprecedented over the entire observation period. However, the probability of the occurrence of a blocking anticyclone and soil drought in the Volga region depends little on ocean surface temperature anomalies, including in the Gulf Stream region.

The warm Gulf Stream is a global phenomenon that influences the formation of the climate on the entire planet and is especially important for moderating the climate of Western European countries, in particular the British Isles and the northern shores of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
The Gulf Stream was discovered at the beginning of the 16th century. Spanish navigators, and at first they called it Florida. In the era of the sailing fleet, routes between Europe and the New World were built with the help of trade winds, westerly winds and corresponding currents, whose location on the map was not in doubt. At first, the Gulf Stream was something of a maritime legend: those who constantly encountered this current along their route knew about it. Many experienced captains have learned to use its power by moving with the current, or to cross the current in time when they should have gone in the opposite direction. But they were in no hurry to share their knowledge with competitors, considering the secret of the Gulf Stream their “intellectual property”, which gives them an advantage at sea.
The outstanding American scientist was the first to study this current, put it on a map in 1769 (using the advice of his cousin, the captain of a whaling ship), and assigned it the “popular” name Gulf Stream (English: “golf” - bay, “stream” - current). and social activist Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Franklin, having a wide range of interests, was convinced that science must be useful. In particular, the purpose of studying the current was to compile the optimal route for postal ships.
Until the 20th century people had the most general ideas about the nature of ocean currents. In the days of sailing ships, it was believed that surface currents were formed only by winds: for example, tropical trade winds, blowing steadily from the east, drive waves in a westerly direction, forming trade wind currents. In the temperate latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere and in the subpolar “roaring forties” in the north, westerly winds blow. But why do the southern trade winds deviate to the west and the northern trade winds to the east? Later, physicists will complement the intuitive observations of sailors with a theory: tropical trade winds (winds) are accelerated by the force of the Earth's rotation, the winds create surface currents in the upper 45 m of the ocean, but under the influence of physical laws, the currents move at an angle to the direction of the wind. Because of this, the system of currents in the Northern Hemisphere generally resembles a grandiose spiral moving clockwise (and the Gulf Stream is one of the key links in this chain), and in the Southern Hemisphere a similar spiral twists a ring of currents counterclockwise (there are five in total in the world main oceanic cycles). At the same time, the contours of the continents also have a great influence on the trajectory of surface jet currents locally. But that’s not all: the occurrence of currents is now explained by the combined action of Coriolis forces (rotational acceleration that deflects an object moving on a rotating disk radially in the direction opposite to rotation), differences in temperature and salinity of water, fluctuations in atmospheric pressure and interaction with the moving atmosphere; currents are divided into drift (caused by winds), gradient and tidal (in addition, the ocean tends to form synoptic eddies, seiches and tsunamis)…
In general, a complex multilayer circulation of a closed system of ocean currents, warm surface and cold deep, constantly occurs in the World Ocean, whose general scheme under the code name “Global Ocean Conveyor” was proposed in the 1980s. American oceanographer Wallace Brocker. But the question of the circulation of the atmosphere and waters of the World Ocean still remains incompletely studied.
In a narrow sense, the “Gulf Current” is that section of a wide powerful stream carrying its warm waters from south to north along the east coast of North America, which starts from the Straits of Florida and ends at the Newfoundland Bank.
It is this current that is designated on geographic maps as the Gulf Stream. It then divides into branches, and one branch turns back to the tropics, while the other changes curvature and goes into the North Atlantic (North Atlantic Current).
Ocean currents of such a scale as the trade winds, Western Winds, Gulf Stream and Kuroshiro largely determine not only the conditions of navigation and fishing, but also the climate of the continents, so they are often compared to the pulse of the planet. But even more often they are compared to rivers.
If we imagine the Gulf Stream as a river and use the appropriate terms, then this “river” is formed near the Bahamas by the confluence of two “tributaries”: the Florida Current (a continuation of the Yucatan Current flowing from the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Yucatan), a powerful stream emerging through the narrow strait between Cuba and Florida, and the Antilles Current. The North Trade Wind Current pushes excess water into the Caribbean Sea. The Gulf Stream gains most of its heat by warming up in the Gulf of Mexico - this is one of the warmest bodies of water on Earth.
Then the current runs in a narrow strip along the coast to the level of North Carolina and there it leaves the coastal zone, heading into the open ocean in a northeasterly direction.
Along its path, the flow forms vortices along the edges, which from time to time break away from the main stream and form branches - “sleeves”. Having reached the shallows of the Great Newfoundland Bank, the Gulf Stream deviates even more to the east and rushes across the North Atlantic towards Europe, changing its name to the North Atlantic Current. But before this, part of the flow manages to separate, turning north, towards Iceland (Irminger Current) and Greenland, into the Labrador Basin; then they are picked up by the Labrador Current, closing the ring. The other “arm” deviates from the main stream to the south, reaching along the Portuguese coast to the Mediterranean Sea, where it is picked up and enclosed in a ring by the Canary Current.
Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Current (the central continuation of the Gulf Stream), having reached the British Isles and Scandinavia, significantly softens the climate there: average temperatures there differ from latitudinal norms by 5-6 and 10-15 degrees, respectively.
Off the northern coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula, the current has local names - Norwegian and North Cape. Traces of the Gulf Stream are found even in the Arctic Ocean: its residual heat “warms up” the port of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, making shipping possible there all year round, even when Arkhangelsk, located further south on the White Sea, is locked in ice.
What and where does the Gulf Stream carry with it? Water (although one of the modern theories states that currents have a cyclical nature of wave dynamics and do not transport matter). Warmth, significantly softening the climate of Western and Northern Europe. Kinetic energy, which they have recently begun to try to capture using devices like windmills and use for economic needs. Sea turtles and eels, helping them on their epic migration. The current in a certain area has important navigational significance, accelerating the movement of ships. In general, the current picks up and carries everything that comes in its way, and this is not always good: it carries with it a lot of algae, oil, harmful waste (chemical fertilizers from plantations), and so on.
The Gulf Stream may deviate from its route, but stopping this powerful current, which arose after the closure of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago, is in principle impossible. But the same cannot be said about the North Atlantic Current: it depends on many “variables,” and its strong weakening, known as the Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillation, has been observed 17 times over the past 60 thousand years. If the weakened North Atlantic Current turns entirely south towards Africa, this could become a real disaster for Western and Northern Europe.

general information

Covers countries: USA.

Detection time: XVI century (Spanish sailors).

First explorer and cartographer: Benjamin Franklin in 1768-1770. and later.
Precursor currents: Florida and Antilles.

Branch currents: Irminger, West Greenland, North Atlantic and its branches.

Numbers

Gulf Stream at the exit to the ocean from the Straits of Florida

Stream width: about 75 km.
Flow thickness: 700-800 m.

Average water consumption: 25 million m 3 /s (this is 20 times the flow of all rivers).

Average current speed: 9-10 km/h.

: +24-28°C.

Salinity: 36.0-36.9%o (at the surface).

Maximum water flow: up to 85 million m 3 /s (after connecting with the Antilles Current).

In the Great Newfoundland Bank area

Flow width: up to 200 km.

Average current speed: 3-4 km/h.

Surface water temperature: +10-20°С.

Salinity: about 35%o (at the surface).
Maximum length(if you count to Spitsbergen): up to 10 thousand km.

Climate and weather

Average January temperatures: due to the warm current, they deviate from the average latitude norms in Norway by 15-20°, in Murmansk - by 10° or more.

Economy

Attractions

Curious facts

The Gulf Stream has stopped, and it acts as a thermostat for our planet. It prevents Europe from freezing and Scandinavia from turning into a glacial world. Due to recent events, everything has changed. Now the thermohaline circulation system is gradually dying and will soon disappear completely.

Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico

The culprit of the tragedy was the oil producing company British Petroleum (BP), where in April last year an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform located in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of negligence. The consequences were simply terrible. For five months, the damaged Macondo well leaked uncontrolled oil, the total amount of which amounted to about 4.9 million barrels.

The damage caused to the Atlantic Ocean was simply colossal. Billions of dollars were required to eliminate the consequences of the accident. Having calculated the amount of expenses to be spent on eliminating the accident and paying a federal fine (depending on the scale of pollution), the management of the company (BP) turned to Barack Obama with a request to reduce the area of ​​​​the polluted ocean by sinking oil to the bottom.

The Obama administration's (BP) request was granted, resulting in the release of approximately 2 million gallons of Corexit into the Atlantic Ocean, as well as several million gallons of other dispersants, in addition to the huge amount of crude oil already spilled. When asked by journalists about how such a measure would affect the ecology of the planet, management (BP) stated that everything would be fine and there was no reason to panic.

Scientists did not take the word of the management of the British Petroleum company and conducted a very simple experiment that clearly showed what was actually happening in the Atlantic Ocean. During the experiment, a regular bath with cold water was used. By giving color to the warm streams of water, one could see the boundaries of the cold layers and warm streams. When oil was added to the bath, the boundaries of the warm water layers were broken and the flowing vortex was effectively destroyed. This experiment showed the principle of action of Corexit, which is currently slowly killing the Gulf Stream.

Before dispersants were added to the water, the causes of the disaster could have been eliminated, of course, a lot of money and time had to be spent on this, but now there is no way to do this, since at the moment there is no effective technology for cleaning the bottom of the bay. Moreover, the oil has already reached the east coast of America and then flowed into the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, where there are no prospects or possibilities for raising it to the surface and cleaning the ocean floor.

The Gulf Stream has stopped

The first to report the stoppage of the Gulf Stream was Dr. Gianluigi Zangari, a theoretical physicist at the Frascati Institute in Italy. He has been monitoring changes in the Gulf of Mexico for several years. All of his observations are based on photographs from the Colorado CCAR satellite, coordinated with the US Navy's NOAA.

After the publication of his article on irreversible changes in warm ocean currents, all photographs and maps received from CCAR were edited on the satellite's server.

Dr. Zangari is confident that the scale of pollution will only increase over time, since oil has the ability to expand, and this in turn will lead to even more severe consequences of the coming environmental disaster.

The pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico ceased to exist this fall, the latest satellite data clearly shows that the Gulf Stream is now gone, it begins to break up and die about 250 kilometers east of the North Carolina coast, despite the width of the Atlantic Ocean at this latitude exceeds 5000 km.

The picture of the near future of ecology was clearly drawn by the Russian scientist professor, author of two monographs and 130 publications in the field of physics, acoustics, geophysics, mathematics, physical chemistry, and economics Sergei Leonidovich Lopatnikov.

The influence of the Gulf Stream on climate

According to S. Lopatnikov, the abnormal heat that lasted all last summer in Moscow and central Russia, as well as floods in Central Europe and inappropriate cold in Germany and England, is only the beginning of a changing climate system directly related to the Gulf Stream.

The thermohaline water system, in which warm waters flow through cooler ones, has a major influence not only on the ocean, but also on the upper atmosphere up to seven miles high. The absence of the Gulf Stream in the eastern part of the North Atlantic disrupts the normal course of atmospheric flows, which leads to natural disasters.

Based on these considerations, in the near future we will face drought, crop failures, famine, large migrations of people from uninhabitable areas, global cooling (irony of fate - they were afraid of global warming, but waited for global cooling) and, as a result, an ice age that will first cover the territory of the North America and then smoothly move to Europe and Asia.

During global icing, if the whole process proceeds quickly, 2/3 of humanity will die, and if the rate of capture of territories by the cold is not so active, then the same 2/3 will die only within a few years.

So. If we delve even deeper into the initial forecasts for the development of the future climate, then at a glance we can safely say the following:

• In the near future, an oil film will appear on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.
• Oil, artificially deposited to the bottom, will subsequently rise and become a layer between layers of water.

The first above will have two consequences:

1. The parameters of moisture evaporation will change, and the heat exchange between the water surface and the atmosphere will be disrupted (obviously, less evaporates, and the evaporated liquid is warmer than normal).
2. The dynamics of heating and cooling of water masses carried away by currents formed in the Atlantic (including in the Gulf of Mexico and near it) will change.

The second point described above will lead to two more consequences:

1. Due to oil in the middle layers of water, it will lose its transparency and will create the effect of a giant lens, which will cause strong heating of the liquid and air itself, inevitably leading to the death of fish, birds and animals.
2. The second adverse effect will be a change in the composition, color, viscosity, temperature and salinity of sea water in the Gulf of Mexico, and this will lead to a stop in the annular current. One can only guess about the consequences.

Global catastrophe

Completely new data was also obtained, based on the study of satellite images and precise mathematical analysis made by Dr. Zangari.

“Today, temperature measurements of the Gulf Stream between the 76th and 47th meridians show that it is 10 degrees Celsius colder than it was at the same time last year. Accordingly, we can talk about the presence of a direct cause-and-effect relationship between the stop of the warm Ring Current in the Gulf of Mexico and the drop in Gulf Stream temperature.” The Gulf Stream has stopped.

One can only guess - who does Barack Obama think he is, making such serious decisions alone, without consulting other states? When it comes to a global catastrophe, it is absolutely unacceptable to take into account any territorial principles.

What concerns more than one country cannot be decided by the government of that state. He not only made a decision that was disastrous for the planet, but is also an accomplice in a crime against humanity and the environment.

Update from 2014

According to the latest data, the Gulf Stream has completely disappeared. Tons of oil that entered the ocean caused a mixture of different temperature currents and destroyed the Gulf Stream, which is the “oven of Europe.” The warm and comfortable climate of Western Europe and America depended on it for 90 percent. Its waters carried 50 million m3 of warm water per second, and the flow power was equivalent to 1 million nuclear power plants.

We can already see the consequences of a global catastrophe. A series of floods, severe frosts and abnormal precipitation swept across the USA, Europe and Russia. In the summer, Europe is flooded with cold, torrential rains, while America cannot cope with abnormal heat and drought.

A warm current, once called the Gulf Stream, carried its waters to northern latitudes, changing the local climate. In the future, this could turn into another global catastrophe for humanity. Large-scale melting of centuries-old glaciers.

But he won’t think about such distant cataclysms, since we simply won’t live to see them.

It took more than three months to localize the accident on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, during which 800,000 cubic meters of oil spilled into the ocean. The maximum damage to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem was caused in the first days. For several more months, the liquidators of the accident tried to scoop out the rapidly spreading oil spills, but their attempts were in vain.

Giant oil lenses penetrated deep into the ocean, causing all living things beneath them to die. Seeing that it was useless to deal with the consequences of the accident using old methods, the US government, together with the cabinet of directors of the British Petroleum company, took radical measures, dumping tons of chemical reagents into the ocean that deposited oil to the bottom. Next, to destroy the oil, they decided to use the latest microorganisms specially created for this purpose.

Bacteria synthia

Since the late 80s, American geneticists have been developing artificial microorganisms that feed on hydrocarbons and are capable of absorbing petroleum products, natural gas and coal.

As a result, in 2007, Synthetic Genomics Inc. patented its development. A completely artificial bacterium called “Cynthia”.

Geneticists managed to synthesize artificial DNA and place it in a living cell, and then breed the offspring of this microorganism. The developers of Cynthia positioned their brainchild as a means of combating oil spills, but some researchers are confident that it is a biological weapon, the side effect of which is the consumption of oil. This is what they wanted to use to eliminate the consequences of the accident.

At first, synthia actually absorbed oil products, but moving deeper into the ocean, multiplying, creating their own colonies and mutating, the preferences of these bacteria changed dramatically. They abandoned oil and began to eat organic matter: algae, jellyfish, fish, animals and, eventually, people.

Already in 2011, it became clear that the cynthia were no longer engaged in destroying oil spills, but, by multiplying, they ate all life in the ocean.

After some time, frightening information appeared in the press that the inhabitants of the Mexican coast were struck by a certain virus, originally called the “Blue Flu”.

Symptoms of blue flu appeared in people who swam in the Gulf of Mexico, and were expressed in the form of skin ulcers, internal bleeding and damage to the respiratory tract.

At first, the disease was stopped with antibiotics, but the victims were left with severe damage to the skin and respiratory organs. Not knowing how to cope with the scourge, doctors said that it was some new virus unknown to medicine, which they had no means of combating.

It later turned out that the unknown virus was carried by synthia, created in such a way that no antibiotic or chemical affected them. You could say they are practically invulnerable.

Why would bacteria created to eliminate oil pollution be made so resistant to suppression methods? This is where many researchers began to say that this virus was created as a weapon, and its tests were carried out in the Gulf of Mexico, but something went wrong, the virus mutated, and the antidote made to deactivate it did not work.

Whichever version is correct, it doesn’t matter now. Hundreds of residents of the Mexican coast are dying from purulent wounds, and this is due to the cynthia, which are still spreading unhindered through the waters of the world's oceans.

The US authorities are aware of the consequences of their carelessness, but at the same time they do their best to restrain the large-scale dissemination of scandalous information. Having destroyed the Gulf Stream and destroyed the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed to the White House administration that it was not enough, and they decided to further aggravate the problem by opening Pandora's box and releasing a deadly infection into the ocean, from which there is no salvation yet.