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Adopt-A-Drifter - Climographs
Ocean Surface
Currents and Climate
What is climate?
• The long-term average of conditions in the
atmosphere, ocean, ice sheets, and sea
ice described by statistics, such as means
and extremes.
What is weather?
• The specific conditions
of the atmosphere at a
particular place and time,
measured in terms of
variables that include
temperature, precipitation,
cloudiness, humidity,
air pressure, and wind.
Weather
Climate
Definition
Describes the atmospheric
Describes the average
conditions at a specific place conditions expected at a
specific place at a given
at a specific point in time.
time
Time
Frame
Short term: Minutes, hours,
Long term: Months,
days, or weeks
years, decades, or longer
Determined
by
Real-time measurements of
Aggregating weather
atmospheric pressure,
statistics over periods of
temperature, wind speed and
30 years ("climate
direction, humidity,
normals").
precipitation, could cover,
and other variables
Study
Meteorology
Table sources/modified from: NASA 2010, diffen.com
Climatology
What are ocean surface currents?
• The surface currents of the world’s ocean are
driven mainly by wind and move in circular
patterns following the major wind belts of
the globe.
(photo credit: Rick Lumpkin,
www.adp.noaa.gov)
How do ocean currents circulate
water around the earth?
• In general, currents carry warm water from the
tropics toward the poles and bring cold water
back toward the equator.
(photo credit:
www.geomorphology.org.uk/weather)
How do currents affect the
surrounding air?
• A surface current warms or cools the air
above it, influencing the climate of the
land near the coast.
Warm Water Currents
• Winds pick up moisture as they blow
across warm water currents. This often
brings mild, rainy weather to the coastal
regions.
(photo credit: Amanda Laurier)
Warm Water Currents
• Example: The Gulf Stream
(photo credit:
www.geomorphology.org.uk)
Warm Water Currents
• The Gulf Stream brings relatively warmer
temperatures to western Ireland and Great
Britain, resulting in a subtropical climate with
mild winters.
Logan Botanic Garden,
Scotland
(photo credit: Archie Miles)
Cold Water Currents
• Cold water currents cool the air above
them and since cold air has less of an
ability to take up moisture than warm air,
these currents tend to bring cool, dry
weather to adjacent land areas.
• Fog is often found along the land-sea
borders where cold ocean currents exist.
Cold Water Currents
• Example: Atacama Desert, Chile, South America
Cold ocean currents keep clouds and fog just off the coast,
making it one of the driest places on earth.
(photo credit: Mary Cook)
Add this to your notes.
Research question:
Do ocean currents influence
climate? Explain your
reasoning.