Gulf Stream
The process of western intensification causes the Gulf Stream to be a northward-accelerating current off the east coast of North America.
A consensus exists that the climate of Northwest Europe is warmer than other areas of similar latitude at least partially because of the strong North Atlantic Current.
European discovery of the Gulf Stream dates to the 1512 expedition of Juan Ponce de León, after which it became widely used by Spanish ships sailing from the Caribbean to Spain.
In 1768, while in England, Franklin heard a curious complaint from the Colonial Board of Customs: "Why did it take British packets several weeks longer to reach New York from England than it took an average American merchant ship to reach Newport, Rhode Island, despite the merchant ships leaving from London and having to sail down the River Thames and then the length of the English Channel before they sailed across the Atlantic, while the packets left from Falmouth in Cornwall?
[12] The specific location of the Gulf Stream changes seasonally, being closer to the coast of North America in the summer and further away in the winter.
[13] A river of sea water, called the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, flows westwards off the coast of Central Africa.
[23] Given the strength and proximity of the Gulf Stream, beaches along the East Coast of the United States may be more vulnerable to large sea-level anomalies, which significantly impact rates of coastal erosion.
[28] In April 2018, two studies published in the British scientific journal Nature [29][30] found the Gulf Stream to be at its weakest for at least 1,600 years.
The Gulf Stream carries a wide variety of tropical fish and organisms northward along the East Coast from Florida to extreme southeast Massachusetts in spring and summer.
Following the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, tropical fish are often encountered off the East Coast as they search for food, including several species of Batoidea, Dolphin, Barracuda, and Triggerfish.
[37][failed verification] A noticeable effect of the Gulf Stream and the strong westerly winds on Europe occurs along the Norwegian coast.
[38] The warming effect provided by the Gulf Stream has allowed fairly large settlements to be developed and maintained on the coast of Northern Norway, including Tromsø, the third-largest city north of the Arctic Circle.
[39][40][41][42][43] The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report addressed this issue specifically, and found that based on model projections and theoretical understanding, the Gulf Stream will not shut down in a warming climate.
Storms travel westward through the Caribbean and then either move in a northward direction and curve towards the eastern coast of the United States or stay on a north-westward track and enter the Gulf of Mexico.
[46] Such storms have the potential to create strong winds and extensive damage to the United States' Southeast coastal areas.
[47] Strong extratropical cyclones have been shown to deepen significantly along a shallow frontal zone, forced by the Gulf Stream, during the cold season.
