GULF STREAM, (eng. Gulf Stream, literally - the course of the bay), a warm current in the North Atlantic. In a broad sense, hydrothermal is a powerful system of warm currents stretching for 10,000 km from the coast of the Florida peninsula to the islands of Svalbard and New Earth . G. proper begins in the southern part of the Strait of Florida as a waste 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 a large surge of trade winds of water through the Yucatan Strait into the Gulf of Mexico and the resulting significant level difference between the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent part of the Atlantic Ocean. When entering the ocean, the current capacity is 25 million m³ / s. (2160 km³ per day), which is 20 times the flow of all rivers in the world. In the ocean, it merges with the Antilles current, and the thickness of the galaxies also increases by 38°N. sh. Reaches 82 million m³/sec. One of the features of hydrogeography is that, in violation of the general pattern of movement in the Northern Hemisphere, this current, upon entering 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 shelf of North America, and at Cape Hatteras it deviates to the northeast, to the Newfoundland Bank. After passing it, at about 40° W. d., G. proper passes 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 moves westward in its main mass, skirts Greenland from the south and follows along its western coast called the West 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 stream of the Norwegian Current continues north and, under the name of the Svalbard Current, runs along the western coast of Svalbard. North of Svalbard, this current sinks to depths and can be traced in the Arctic Ocean under cold and fresh 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 flow thickness 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 water currents has a great influence on the hydrological and biological characteristics of both the seas and the Arctic Ocean itself, and on the climate of the countries of Europe adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Masses of warm water heat the air passing over them, which is carried by western winds to Europe (southern trees grow in the west of 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 seaports on Murman, in particular, not to freeze (the air temperature in Murmansk deviates from the average values ​​at this latitude up to 11ºС).
In Russia, for the first time after studies of the temperature regime of the Barents Sea, F.F. Geographic 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 the capital was of the opinion that "there is no Gulfstrom and cannot be." N. M. Knipovich with employees of the Murmansk scientific and fishing expedition (1898–1908) discovered 4 branches of the North Cape warm current in the Barents Sea. The southern, Murmansk, ran parallel to the coast of the Kola Peninsula, then splitting into two jets (to Novaya Zemlya and the Kaninsky shallow water). The expedition established a connection between the migration of juveniles of bottom rocks and their accumulation on the shallows and banks with warm water jets, and it was proposed to expand the fishing area. New opportunities in the study of geometry opened up in the middle of the 20th century. with the advent of more advanced scientific equipment.

Lit .: Middendorf A.F. Gulfstrem to the east of the North Cape. - St. Petersburg, 1871; Shuleikin VV Physics of the sea. - M., 1953; Stommel G. Gulfstream. - M., 1963; Gershman, I.G., The Gulf Stream and Its Influence on the Climate, Meteorology and Hydrology. 1939. No. 7–8.

Scheme of heat transfer by the course of the Gulf Stream Group:

• Climate; atmosphere

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THEMATIC INDEX > SCIENCE > Natural (mathematics, physics, geography, geology, chemistry, biology, marine studies, etc.)
THEME INDEX > NATURE > Water resources (seas, rivers, lakes, bays)
THEMATIC INDEX > NATURE > Climate; atmosphere

Gulf Stream - 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 current of the Gulf Stream is the culprit of the unstable weather conditions in this district. GULF STREAM, a warm current in the middle latitudes of the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, moving in a northeasterly direction. The fastest current in the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream, is one of the most powerful forces of nature.

The flow of water by the Gulf Stream is about 50 million cubic meters of water every second, which is 20 times more than the flow of all the rivers of the world combined. Locally, in each separate region, the direction and nature of the current are also determined by the outline of the continents, the temperature regime, the distribution of salinity, 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 loses its stability. It exhibits quasi-periodic fluctuations with a period of 1.5-2 years, similar to those of a jet stream in the atmosphere, known as the index cycle. Taking into account the impact of the Gulf Stream on the climate, it is assumed that in the short-term historical perspective, a climatic catastrophe is possible due to the disruption of the current.

In particular, according to the 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 the actual transfer of water does not occur, 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 Golf Stream can't explain all the disappearances.

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

This current is directed in a narrow stream along the coast of North America. An additional factor of deflection to the east 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 the Arctic Ocean. The Gulf Stream plays the role of a heating system in it, it is also called the “stove of Europe”. The colder and denser Labrador current "dives" under the warmer and lighter current of the Gulf Stream, without preventing it from heating Europe.

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

A study of the ice in Greenland shows that climate change processes can occur within three to ten years. The air temperature in Europe in these few years will be equal to the Siberian one. Now giant slicks of oil have been discovered in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has been pouring out for several months from a well drilled by BP at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Along with it, the Norwegian Current also disappeared. The shutdown of the Gulf Stream was first reported in August 2010 by Dr. Zangari, a theoretical physicist from Italy. The average water temperature in the north of the Gulf Stream has dropped by 10 degrees.

The Gulf Stream is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that goes around Florida, flows along the east coast of the United States to about 37 degrees N. and then breaks off the coast to the east

Letters come to the editorial office with a request to clarify whether the warm current will really disappear soon. Similar trends exist in 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 root cause of this unusual North Atlantic is that the water over the Atlantic Ocean evaporates a little more than it falls in the form of precipitation.

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

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

The continuation of the Gulf Stream is the North Atlantic Current, which carries a stream cooled in the north to the Southern Hemisphere. Changing the continuity of the Gulf Stream in scientific circles is a topic for discussion. Several factors are involved in the emergence and direction of the Gulf Stream. Almost a third is in the path of the Gulf Stream. The first is the Gulf Stream itself - an ocean current along the east coast of North America up to 90 kilometers wide and at a speed of up to several meters per second.

Oceans, lakes and rivers

The Gulf Stream

In Western Europe, as well as on the east coast of the United States, the climate is quite mild. So 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, and 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 drops to 0 ° Celsius very rarely.

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. The summer temperature in it fluctuates between 26°-28° Celsius. In winter, these figures 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.

The Gulf Stream

This temperature grace takes place in a vast region for a reason. It is directly connected with the Gulf Stream ocean current. It is he who forms 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 northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Its total length covers a distance of 10 thousand kilometers from the sultry coast of Florida to the ice-covered islands of Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya. Huge masses of water begin their movement 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. sh. Near the island of Newfoundland, it meets the Labrador Current. The latter carries cold waters to the south and causes 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. It is this that forms 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 Tradewind Current and deviates west, ending its journey in the Sargasso Sea, from which it is within easy reach of the Gulf of Mexico. Then the cycle of huge masses of water is repeated.

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

True, before that, in the VIII-XIII centuries, there was a noticeable warming. In other words, the Gulf Stream was gaining strength and giving off 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 have not been observed for centuries.

Today, the mighty warm currents of water also affect the climate as they did in former times. Nothing has changed under the sun and the laws of nature have remained the same. That's just a man in his technical progress walked very far. His relentless activity 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 salty waters and rushed south. Today, this situation is already beginning to affect the mighty warm current. Some experts predict the imminent stop of the Gulf Stream, since he will not be able to cope with the influx of alien waters. This will entail a sharp cooling in Western Europe and on the east coast of North America.

The situation was aggravated by the largest accident at the Tiber oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Under water in the bowels of the earth, geologists have found huge reserves of oil, 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 blazed for two days and claimed the lives of 11 people. But it was, though tragic, but a prelude to what happened after that.

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

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

The result was a terrible heat wave in Eastern Europe in the summer of 2010, when the air temperature rose to 45° Celsius. Provoked similar winds from North Africa. They, not meeting any resistance on their way, brought a hot and dry cyclone to the north. He hovered over a vast territory and stayed above it for almost two months, destroying all life.

At the same time, terrible floods shook Western Europe, as the 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 on the ground. All this provoked a sharp rise in the level of rivers and, as a result, various catastrophes and human tragedies.

What are the immediate prospects, and what awaits old Europe in the near future? Experts say that cardinal climate change will begin to be felt as early as 2020. Western Europe is waiting for a cooling and rising sea levels. This will provoke the impoverishment of the middle class, as their money is invested in real estate, which will plummet in value.

This will create political and social tensions in all sectors of society. The consequences of this can be the most tragic. It is simply impossible to predict something specific, since there are many scenarios for the development of events. One thing is clear: hard times are coming.

The current of the Gulf Stream, today, thanks to global warming and the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, has practically closed in a ring and does not provide sufficient thermal energy to the North Atlantic Current. Accordingly, the air flow is disturbed. Over the European territory, completely different winds begin to dominate. The usual climatic balance is disturbed - this is already noticeable with a simple eye.

In such a situation, anyone can feel a sense 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 to despair, and even more so to panic, is premature. How it will actually be - no one knows.

The future is full of surprises. It is entirely possible that global warming is not global warming at all. This is a normal rise in temperatures within the climate cycle. Its duration is 60 years. That is, for six decades the temperature on the planet has been steadily increasing, and for the next 60 years it is slowly decreasing. The beginning of the last cycle dates back to the end of 1979. It turns out that half of the way has already been passed and only 30 years are left to endure.

The Gulf Stream is too powerful a stream of water to simply change direction or disappear like that. 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 don't.

Yuri Syromyatnikov

Education

A warm current is ... The 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 more about it.

Where do currents come from?

Currents are directed flows of water masses. They can have different widths and depths - from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers. Their speed can reach up to 9 km / h. The direction of water flows determines the force of rotation of our planet. Thanks to her, in the Southern Hemisphere, the currents deviate to the right, and in the Northern Hemisphere - to the left.

Many conditions influence the formation and nature of currents. The reason for their appearance may be the wind, the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun, different density and temperature, the level of the waters of the oceans. Most often, several factors contribute to the formation of currents at once.

There is a neutral, cold and warm current in the ocean. They are determined 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 migrate 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 affect the climate of coastal areas. Warm water currents warm the waters of the ocean. They contribute to a mild climate, high humidity and high rainfall. On the shores, next to which warm waters flow, forests form. There are such warm currents of the World Ocean:

Pacific Basin

• East Australian.
• Alaskan.
• Kuroshio.
• El Nino.

Indian Ocean basin

Atlantic Ocean basin

• Irminger.
• Brazilian.
• Guiana.
• Gulfstream.
• North Atlantic.

Arctic Ocean Basin

• West Spitsbergen.
• Norwegian.
• West Greenland.

Related videos

Gulfstream

The warm Atlantic current, one of the largest in the Northern Hemisphere, is the Gulf Stream. It begins in the Gulf of Mexico, flows through the Florida Strait into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean 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, which can be separated 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 on the coast. In the very center of the North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream separates, 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 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 the current El Niño.

Other warm currents of the World Ocean can hardly be compared with the power of influence of this “baby” (as the name of the current is translated). Along with warm waters, the current brings with it heavy winds and hurricanes, fires, droughts, and prolonged rains. Residents of coastal areas are suffering from the damage caused by El Niño. Huge areas are flooded, which leads to the death of crops and livestock.

The current is formed in the Pacific Ocean, in its equatorial part. It stretches along the coasts 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 does not come to these areas to feed themselves, leaving the 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. Often the current is 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, Kuroshio becomes the North Pacific Current, which passes into the Alaska 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, like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. Due 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 their combination.

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

E. Volodin, Ph.D. Phys.-Math. Sciences.

Rumors persist about the weakening of the Gulf Stream, which is either due to an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, or due to a strong melt arctic ice, and that it threatens us with unheard-of climatic catastrophes, up to the onset of a new ice age. Letters come to the editorial office with a request to clarify whether the warm current will really disappear soon. Evgeny Volodin, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, answers questions from readers Researcher Institute of Computational Mathematics RAS.

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 between 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 velocities in June 2010 at a depth of 50 m, according to GODAS data. The arrows indicate the direction, the color - the magnitude of the speed (m / s).

The Gulf Stream is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that goes around Florida, flows along the east coast of the United States to about 37 degrees N. 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 root cause of this unusual North Atlantic is that the water over the Atlantic Ocean evaporates a little more than it falls in the form of precipitation. Over the Pacific, on the other hand, precipitation slightly outnumbers evaporation. Therefore, in the Atlantic, the water is on average somewhat saltier than in the Pacific Ocean, which means that it is heavier than the fresher Pacific Ocean, and therefore it tends to sink to the bottom. This is especially intense in the North Atlantic, where salt water is also made heavier by cooling on the surface. In place of the water that has sunk into the depths, water from the south comes to the North Atlantic, this is the North Atlantic Current.

Thus, the causes of the North Atlantic Current are global, and they are unlikely to be significantly affected by such a local event as the 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 (atmospheric model of NCEP's Global Forecast System - GFS), with the warm currents of the North Atlantic, there is nothing to worry about until it happened. 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 the 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 of the Atlantic, in the region of the cold Labrador Current, do these anomalies reach two or three degrees. But such a magnitude of seasonal anomalies is quite common and is observed in a particular region almost every year.

Reports that the Gulf Stream between the 76th and 47th meridians in 2010 became colder by 10 degrees Celsius are not confirmed either. 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 is between about 40 and degrees W.L. 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 quite within the framework of natural variability. Usually they are accompanied by "deviations" of a different sign in neighboring areas of the ocean, which happened in the summer of 2010, according to GODAS data. So if they are averaged over the entire North Atlantic, then the average temperature deviation was close to zero. In addition, such phenomena usually live for several months, and in autumn the negative anomaly was no longer observed (Fig. 3).

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

However, there have been cases in history when events occurred similar to those described in the “horror stories” that are now widespread. The last such event occurred about 14,000 years ago. Then the ice age ended, and in North America, a huge lake was formed from the 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, freshening it and thereby preventing the water from sinking and the North Atlantic Current. As a result, it became noticeably colder in Europe, especially in winter. But then, according to existing estimates, the impact on the climate system was huge, because the flow of fresh water was about 10 6 m 3 /s. This is more than an order of magnitude higher than, for example, the current runoff of all Russian rivers.

Another important point that I would like to emphasize is that the average seasonal anomalies of atmospheric circulation in temperate latitudes depend very little on the anomalies of ocean surface temperature, including such large anomalies as were observed this summer in European Russia. Specialists in seasonal weather forecasting argue that only 10-30% of the deviations from the “norm” of the average seasonal temperature at any point in Russia are due to anomalies in ocean surface temperature, and the remaining 70-90% are the result of natural variability of the atmosphere, the root cause of which is unequal heating high and low latitudes and it is almost impossible to predict which for a period of more than two or 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 as the result of only the influence of the ocean. If this were the case, seasonal or monthly weather deviations from the "norm" would be easily predicted, since large anomalies in ocean temperature, as a rule, are inertial and live for at least several months. But so far, no forecasting center in the world has been able to make a good seasonal weather forecast.

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

MOSCOW, July 26 - RIA Novosti, Tatyana Pichugina. Since the 19th century, the oceanic heating of Western Europe has noticeably weakened. Scientists attribute this to climate change on the planet and draw gloomy scenarios for the future. What threatens the disappearance of the deep currents of the North Atlantic and what is the fate of the Gulf Stream - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Suspiciously cold

Ten years ago, south of Greenland, a patch of water the size of a European country was discovered, which, instead of warming like the rest of the planet, is cooling. It has been called the "hole in global warming", the "cold bubble" (cold blob). In 2015, he broke the temperature record for cold, although for the planet as a whole the year was the hottest.

Scientists have suggested that atmospheric aerosols accumulate above the "cold bubble" and intercept part of the solar radiation. The hypothesis was not confirmed. Now the "hole in global warming" is associated with a slowdown in the North Atlantic Current. This is the name of a part of the deep-sea conveyor, which continues the Gulf Stream, carrying heat to the Arctic.

“I used to be very annoyed by the headlines in the media that the Gulf Stream would stop. From a strictly scientific point of view, this current is on the surface of the ocean, it is generated by the winds. Something in it may change over time, but there is no sign that it will disappear in the coming centuries,” explains Nikolai Koldunov, an employee of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany), to RIA Novosti.

With regard to the North Atlantic Current, which is often confused with the Gulf Stream, such concerns are appropriate. This current is determined by changes in salinity and water temperature (thermohaline circulation).

Salty warm waters move from south to north. They cool down, become heavier and sink deeper. There they slowly turn around and begin the return journey, which takes thousands of years. Thanks to this mechanism, the entire World Ocean is gradually mixed up.

© IPCC

How the ocean cycle breaks

The global ocean conveyor in the North Atlantic Ocean will stop if the waters warm up significantly or become fresher.

This already happened at the end of the last ice age. Then in Canada melt water glaciers formed the huge Lake Agassiz. Approximately 8,200 years ago, it very quickly poured into the ocean and lowered its salinity to such an extent that the waters in the Labrador Sea and the Norwegian Sea - where the conveyor reverses - stopped sinking. The North Atlantic Current literally lost its thrust, it stopped. The waters heated in the tropics did not reach the shores of Western Europe, Great Britain and the Scandinavian Peninsula, causing a cooling.

© RIA Novosti illustration

© RIA Novosti illustration

Relationship between warming and currents

This scenario could repeat itself, climate scientists warn. The world's oceans, though slowly, are warming up. The growing greenhouse effect in the atmosphere contributes to the melting of glaciers and the flow of fresh water into the seas. More abundant wet precipitation contributes to desalination. All this weakens the North Atlantic Current, scientists from the Potsdam Institute for the Study of Climate Change (Germany) believe.

Together with their American colleagues, they modeled the Atlantic branch of the global ocean conveyor over a long period of time and came to the conclusion that its speed has decreased by 15 percent since the middle of the 20th century. Their recent paper in Nature sparked a discussion among experts.

One of the authors, Stefan Rahmstorf, even published detailed explanations on the collective science blog Real Climate. Consistently rejecting various options, he argued that the "cold bubble" had been predicted and that it could only be explained by the weakening of the North Atlantic Current.

According to another model, this current will weaken by a factor of three if industrial emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere double from 1990 levels. In three hundred years the conveyor belt in the Atlantic will stop.

© RAPID-AMOC Project

© RAPID-AMOC Project

Imperfection of calculations

“It should be taken into account that all forecasts are made based on the results of modeling. With regard to the atmosphere, this works relatively well, but we are still poorly modeling the thickness of the ocean,” Koldunov notes.

According to him, we know the ocean much less than the atmosphere. Ocean exploration has always been underfunded, and expeditions are expensive. Without direct observations of water parameters, it is impossible to obtain the necessary input data for models. Until recently, there were very few of them.

“In the 1990s, measurements of the ocean from satellites began, data were received on the topography of the water surface, which can be used to study surface currents on a global scale. kilometers and transmitting information to satellites. Data are accumulating, but they are still not enough, "the scientist continues.

There are direct measurements of water transport in the conveyor in the North Atlantic for ten years - from 2004 to 2014 (RAPID-AMOC project). They do show a slowdown, but they do not say anything about the long-term trend.

Due to the lack of input data and computer power, many things have to be simplified, various tricks have to be used. For example, the group in which Koldunov works is engaged in a new generation of dynamic global models of ocean currents. In the latest work, the scientists showed how to increase the resolution in specific areas of the ocean so that there is more detail where it matters, such as in the Gulf Stream.

Ocean modeling requires enormous computational resources. And due to a point change in resolution, you can save expensive supercomputer time.

gulfstream- current from the bay) - a warm sea current in the Atlantic Ocean. In a narrow sense, the Gulf Stream is the current along the east coast of North America from the Florida Strait to the Newfoundland Bank (as it is, in particular, marked on maps). In a broad sense, the Gulf Stream is often referred to as a system of warm currents in the North Atlantic Ocean from Florida to the Scandinavian Peninsula, Svalbard, the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The Gulf Stream… is a powerful jet stream 70-90 km wide, propagating almost to the bottom of the ocean, with a maximum speed of up to several meters per second in the upper layer of the ocean, rapidly decreasing with depth (up to 10-20 cm/s at depths of 1000-1500 m). The flow of water by the Gulf Stream is about 50 million cubic meters of water every second, which is 20 times more than the flow of all the rivers of the world combined. The thermal power is approximately 1.4×10 15 watts. The dynamics of the current changes markedly during the year.

Having managed to gain a significant amount of heat in the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Current connects with the Antilles Current near the Bahamas (point 1, Fig. 1) and turns into the Gulf Stream, which flows in a narrow strip along the coast of North America. At the level of North Carolina (Cape Hatteras, point 2, Fig. 1), the Gulf Stream leaves the coastal zone and turns into the open ocean. The maximum flow rate in this case reaches 85 million m³/s. The continuation of the Gulf Stream to the southeast of the Great Newfoundland Bank (point 3) is known as the North Atlantic Current, which crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a northeasterly direction, losing much of its energy in branches to the south (point 4), where the Canary Current completes the main cycle currents of the North Atlantic. Branches to the north into the Labrador Basin (point 5) form the Irminger Current, the West Greenland Current, and are closed by the Labrador Current. At the same time, the main flow of the Gulf Stream can be traced even further to the north (point 6) along the coast of Europe as the Norwegian current, the North Cape current and others. Traces of the Gulf Stream in the form of an intermediate current are also observed in the Arctic Ocean.

The Gulf Stream often forms rings - whirlwinds in the ocean. Separated from the Gulf Stream as a result of meandering, they have a diameter of about 200 km and move in the ocean at a speed of 3-5 cm/s.

Some scientists claim that the Gulf Stream is slowing down its waters, and some say that it has completely stopped. It's hard to know who is right now, but the Gulf Stream does have several reasons to slow down.

The first of these is global warming. Since the dynamics of the current is significantly affected by the salinity of ocean water, which decreases due to the melting of ice. It is also possible the influence of a decreasing temperature difference between the pole and the equator with an increase in the greenhouse effect. Thus, "global warming" threatens Europe with catastrophic cooling.

The second reason is the very large amount of oil that was spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. It also affects him, breaking and slowing down the course.

Rice. 1. Gulf Stream flow system.

The stoppage of the warm current of the Gulf Stream carries many dangers: the cooling of Europe, climate disturbances, the appearance of an ice age. It plays a huge role in the life of our planet. In favor of the fundamental possibility of such a catastrophe, data are given on catastrophic climate changes that occurred on our planet earlier. Including the available evidence of the Little Ice Age or data from the analysis of the Greenland ice.

Taking into account the impact of the Gulf Stream on the climate, it is assumed that in the short-term historical perspective, a climatic catastrophe is possible due to the disruption of the current. It has long been one of Hollywood's favorite themes that because of global warming and the melting of northern glaciers, the waters are desalinated, and since the Gulf Stream is formed by the interaction of salt and fresh water, Europe ceases to be heated and the ice age begins.

Currently, there are no sufficiently substantiated data on the influence of the above factors on the climate. There are also opposite opinions. In particular, according to the doctor of geographical sciences, oceanologist Bondarenko A.L., “The operation mode of the Gulf Stream will not change”. This is argued by the fact that the actual transfer of water does not occur, that is, the flow is a Rossby wave. Therefore, there will be no sudden and catastrophic changes in the climate of Europe. ( A. L. Bondarenko, "Where does the Gulf Stream flow?"// Oceanology. Popular science blog about the oceans and its inhabitants.).

All the above information is found on the site "Wikipedia" and "Oceanology. Popular science blog about the oceans.

Due to the fact that there is no consensus on the spatiotemporal variability and cause-and-effect relationships of the Gulf Stream current system, we will consider the results of numerous measurements of the speed and direction of currents and the distribution of temperature and salinity in the North Atlantic.

Until now, a large number of measurements of the flow parameters by different methods have been made. Consider some of them produced in various places in the ocean, including in the Gulf Stream system.

It is advisable to start from the equator. On fig. 2 (left) shows the meridional component of the equatorial current of the Atlantic. The flow rate changes periodically (period of 20-30 days). These are currents of a wave nature. In the literature, they are called differently: mslow oscillations; unstable waves; baroclinic coastal jets; topographic waves; continental shelf waves; synoptic eddies in the ocean; baroclinic eddies; ocean eddies; topographic rings; deep jets; Rossby gravitational waves captured by the equator; equatorial long waves; equatorial waves; meanders and long waves; edge waves; double Kelvin waves.

HIt should be noted that the possibility of the formation of long-period waves in the ocean was first shown by theoretical calculations: Kelvin waves (1880), slow large-scale fluctuations (low-frequencycurrentfluctuations) called planetary waves or Rossby waves (1938), topographic, shelf (longshelfwaves, continentalshelfwaves) captured by the coast ( coastal-trappedwaves), captured by the equator of waves. Recording waves in the ocean and in the Great Lakes began in the 60s of the last century.

Naturally, they tried to identify the great variability of the speed and direction of currents observed in the ocean with the available models obtained theoretically: with Rossby and Kelvin waves, with topographic waves, etc.

The main difference between the observed waves and the theoretically calculated ones is that the observed waves have a large transfer of water masses, while theoretical calculations show that the transfer of water masses in a wave is small. Therefore, in our opinion, it is expedient to call the actually observed variability of the velocity and direction of currents long-period wave currents (LPWT), currents of wave nature. The necessary features of such currents are: a) periodic variability; b) presence of phase velocity. Moreover, the phase velocity and direction of phase propagation must be shown and calculated from observations.

Long-term instrumental observations of currents of a wave nature have become possible since the advent of autonomous current meters.

Figure 2 (left) shows the meridional component of the equatorial current in the form of Rossby waves at a depth of 10 m. (WeisbergR. H.1984), in the same figure on the right - the depth profile of the zonal velocity component (in cm/s) at the point 0°-35°W , in April 1996, obtained on the cruise of R/V Elambor 2 (GouriouY ., BourlesB ., MercierH ., ChuchlaR . 1999).It is clearly seen that the current exists up to a depth of 4500 m.

Rice. Fig. 2. Meridional component of the equatorial current in the form of Rossby waves at a depth of 10 m. (WeisbergR. H.1984) (left); depth profile of the zonal velocity component (in cm/s) at the station 0°-35°W , in April 1996, obtained on the cruise of R/V Elambor 2 (GouriouY ., BourlesB ., MercierH ., ChuchlaR . 1999). (right).

There are many measurements of currents of a wave nature of different quality, and they are presented in various ways in the illustrations. Measurements that lasted 30 years at the equator of the Pacific Ocean are exemplary. (TOGO -TAO) (Fig. 3.4).

On fig. 3 for a wave nature (period of 20 days), which has a constant component, which reaches 150 cm/s in summer and decreases to 0 cm/s (or has a negative direction) in winter. Wave change amplitude up to 90 cm/s. On fig. 4 shows the meridional component - current velocity fluctuations in the north-south direction, without a constant component. Packages are visible, i.e. time intervals, when the amplitude of current variability is large, alternate with periods when the amplitude of current variability is small.

Rice. 3. An example of measuring the current at the equator of the Pacific Ocean at station

0°, 110° W , at a depth of 10 m, zonal component (W - E ).

Rice. 4. An example of measuring the current at the equator of the Pacific Ocean at station

0°, 110° W , at a depth of 10 m, meridional component.

The equatorial current reaches the coast of Brazil, and part of the flow flows along the northern coast of Brazil into the Caribbean Sea, the other part turns to the south (Fig. 5). Here, too, the results of measuring the speed and direction of currents at 6 horizons up to a depth of 3235 m are presented. The current changes periodically, has a constant component.

The northern branch of the current passes through the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and flows out through the Florida Strait into the Atlantic Ocean in a powerful stream. (shown with drifter trajectories in Fig. 6 left).

Rice. 5. Variability of current velocity off the coast of Brazil (Fischer J ., SchottF . A . 1997).

Rice. Fig. 6. Trajectories of drifters in the Caribbean Sea and in the Gulf of Mexico and the beginning of the Gulf Stream (left), 240 trajectories of floats of neutral buoyancy SOFAR (SoundFixingAndRanging) in the North Atlantic at a depth of 700 to 2000 m (Philip L . Richardson 1991) (right).

Very interesting results of the passage of drifters along their trajectories are shown in Fig. 6 (right). Here are 240 trajectories. The author (PhilipL . Richardson 1991) begins the article with the phrase "We will show you something amazing." Of course, for many, surprising even now, more than 20 years after the publication of this article. Most people still believe that the Gulf Stream is jet-like, geostrophic. The author of the article believes that the flow in the Gulf Stream and in the adjacent areas have a vortex character (Fig. 6 on the right). The text of the article says that some of the eddies are cyclonic, and some are anticyclonic. Such a current cannot be geostrophic. And it cannot be formed by density unevenness.

Rice. 7. Three medium-scale eddies that have followed in the eastern Atlantic for a long time (Philip L . Richardson . 1991).

The same paper presents the trajectories of drifters entrained by medium-scale eddies in the eastern Atlantic (Fig. 7). Three eddies were traced over the course of two years, a year, and a year and a half (MEDDY 1,2,3, respectively).

Rice. Fig. 8. Spatial distribution of the velocity vectors of currents in a wave (a) and in a vortex (b), which move with phase velocities of 2 cm/s.

But there are different opinions about the nature of the observed eddy movements in the ocean.

Zakharchuk (2010) shows the spatial distribution of the velocity vectors of currents in a wave and in a vortex (Fig. 8). In a wave, the vectors are located along the direction of wave movement. In the vortex, the vectors are located along the tangents to the circular motion.

On fig. Figure 9 shows the variability of current velocity in the Gulf Stream. The nature of the variability convinces us that the Gulf Stream has a wave nature. It is not jet, not geostrophic. And definitely not thermohaline. The speed of a mass of water measuring 500 × 100 × 1 km. first increases, reaches a maximum, then decreases, sometimes almost to zero. And increases again. Such a process can only occur in a wave.

Rice. Fig. 9. Variability in the speed of drifter No. 12046 during the Gulf Stream. (Bondarenko A. L. 2009).

Thus, along the entire perimeter of the large-scale circulation, along its entire length, wave currents are observed. Can you be more specific: "The flow of large-scale circulation (and the Gulf Stream too) is the average movement of the flow of a wave nature."

This conclusion is confirmed by numerous observations. “From 1959 to 1971, 350 ABS settings were made in the US western Atlantic Ocean. Of particular interest are long-term (with interruptions) observations on the section 70° W. d. Discovered oscillation period in the bottom and surface layers is equal 30 days. Apparently, these fluctuations are caused topographic Rossby waves. It is interesting to note that the position of the Gulf Stream changes with the same frequency. (Baranov E.I. 1988).

“Drifter observations have become widespread over the past 30 years.

A long-term experiment to determine the trajectory of the current velocity in the core of the Gulf Stream was carried out in June-November 1975. During this experiment, the trajectory and drift velocity from Florida to 45°W were reliably determined. In this section of the trajectory, the buoy was within the core of the Gulf Stream, somewhat to the right of the Gulf Stream front. From Florida to Cape Hatteras, the velocities were within 200 cm/s. High velocities in the rod, more than 100 cm/s, were observed up to 55°W. e. Further, the nature of the drift, the value of the velocities changes dramatically, which could be the reason for the ejection of the buoy from the core of the Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Current system and its entry into one of the southern branches of this system. (Baranov E.I. 1988).

“Before approaching Cape Hatteras, the Florida Current follows the Strait of Florida along the continental slope and crosses the Blake Plateau (Fig. 10, between 72° and 65°W). Depths in this area are 700-800m. Spreading to the bottom, the current moves the entire mass of water from the surface to the bottom. Joining the Florida current of the Antilles current increases the flow of the Gulf Stream.

In the area of ​​Cape Hatteras, two processes occur that change the transport qualitatively and quantitatively. In this area, the Gulf Stream turns from the edge of the continental shelf towards the open ocean. The ocean depths along the trajectory at the turning point increase at a distance of 20 km. from 1000 to 2000 m (the bottom slope here is 5%, and further at a distance of 150 km, from 2000 to 3000 m (the bottom slope is 1.5%).

After passing through the area of ​​60-78° W, where the discharges reach their maximum values, a sharp decrease is observed. In the layer 0-2000 m, the costs decrease from 89 sv. at 68-70°W until 49 St. at 60°W This sharp decrease can be explained by the following factors. In the area between 60-65 ° passes underwater mountain range New England (Fig. 10)”. (Baranov E. I 1988).

Rice. 10. Relief of the ocean floor in the area of ​​the Gulf Stream after the passage of Cape Hatteras.

“The area south and southeast of the Great Newfoundland Bank is called the Gulf Stream Delta. Moving east of 50° W. The Gulf Stream meets on its way the southeastern Newfoundland submarine ridge, which stretches from the northwest to the southeast from the edge of the Great Newfoundland bank to 39 ° N, 44 ° W. This range, like the underwater New England mountain range, acts as a barrier to the Gulf Stream, which extends here to the bottom. Here begins the branching of the Gulf Stream itself into a number of branches - into the northern, central and southern branches of the North Atlantic Current. The southern branch of the Gulf Stream (Canary Current) departs to the south.

The main, central branch of the North Atlantic Current crosses the Newfoundland Ridge and, turning sharply to the north, follows the 4500 m isobath. sh. on the meridian 40° W. the central branch turns to the northeast. At the latitude of Scotland, this branch forms, together with the northern branch, the Irminger Current. Its main part, having crossed the Wyville-Thomson threshold, passes into the Norwegian Sea under the name of the Norwegian Current.

The southern branch of the North Atlantic Current is formed from that part of the Gulf Stream flow, which goes around the Newfoundland Ridge from the south and follows east along 42-45 ° N. sh. After crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, this branch deviates to the right and continues in the form of an unstable stream to the south between the Azores and Spain and, under the name of the Portuguese Current, gives rise to the Canary Current ”(Baranov E. I. 1988).

Rice. 11. Trajectories of drifters in the northern Atlantic (ArturMoriano website)

In connection with the wide distribution of drifter observations, attempts were made to trace all the above described currents (the continuation of the Gulf Stream) along drifter trajectories. According to some data (Bondarenko A.L.), out of 100 drifters launched in the Strait of Florida, only one reached the coast of Iceland. The rest, a small part went to the left, into the Labrador current, most of them deviated to the right and headed south and southeast. According to other data, out of 400 drifters, only one reached the shores of England. It was even concluded that the Gulf Stream does not carry water masses, but heat is transferred by turbulence.

The data of drifter observations on the website oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/at helped to clarify the situation.

On fig. 11 vectors and color mark current velocities. It can be seen from the color scale that near the Strait of Florida the velocities are close to 70 cm/s, from Cape Hatteras to the Newfowlland Bank the velocities are about 100 cm/s. Further, the flow width increases and the velocities decrease to 20 cm/s. That is, the location and color of the vectors confirms the patterns described above for the advancement of the current, its deviation to the right at Cape Hatteras. And then a significant expansion of the current. Formation of the southern branch (Fig. 11). The color becomes blue (20 cm/s). The vectors are located less frequently.

Rice. 12. Transition from the Gulf Stream to the North Atlantic Current (left). Trajectories of drifters in the North Atlantic.

Rice. 13. Area of ​​the Irminger Current (near Iceland) (left), drifters from the North Atlantic Current in the Irminger Current (right).

On fig. 11 the current is represented up to 23° W. e. The continuation of the flow is seen in the following Fig. 12 (on the right). From the area 30-25° W. 54°N the Irminger current begins in a northwestern direction (Fig. 13). From latitude 20°W (Fig. 12 on the right) a branch of the North Atlantic Current is formed, which passes by England to the coast of Norway (Fig. 14).

Figure 14 shows the trajectories of three drifters launched at longitude 37°W. and 52° N. sh. Two of them reached the zero meridian, and one passed along the coast of Norway.

So, we traced the path of drifters from the Florida Strait to the coast of Norway, a branch to the south, to the northwest (the Irminger Current), and into the North Atlantic Current.

How can one explain that out of hundreds (100, 400) drifters launched in the area of ​​the Florida Strait, only a few reach the end of the North Atlantic Current? It's very easy to explain. Even if drifters are launched in the river (jet stream), as a result of turbulence, friction on the banks, drifters will approach the banks, and gradually everyone will be on the bank.

Rice. 14. Trajectories of drifters in the North Atlantic and Norwegian currents.

Meanwhile, ALL water passes downstream. The current of the Gulf Stream has a wave nature, a large variability of speed. The influence of bottom irregularities and the deep western countercurrent (Labrador Current), as well as wave nature, is great. Drifters, reaching the edge of the current, liquid banks, easily cross the boundaries of the current, leave it. In order to follow the current further, it is possible to offer in the section where about half of the drifters have remained, to launch the same number more. Of course, one must take into account the obvious fact that the volume of water in the North Atlantic Current is a small part of the Gulf Stream, since a significant amount of water goes into the branches to the south, then to the left (Irmingham Current). It is difficult to quantify the proportion of water directly from the Gulf Stream in different branches of the North Atlantic Current. For a qualitative presentation of the distribution of Gulf Stream waters by branches, one can use maps of the distribution of heat in the North Atlantic (Fig. 16 a, b, c) carried by different branches.

Data on the distribution of temperature on three horizons of the North Atlantic can be found in the atlas of the Atlantic Ocean:

Atlantic Ocean. WOCE Hydrographic Atlas and Global Climatology. N3. CD.

Let us consider the distribution of heat at a horizon of 200 m along the route of the Gulf Stream (Fig. 15a). In the Florida Strait, the water temperature is 20°C. After passing Cape Hatteras, the temperature is 18°C. At the Newfoundland Bank, the water temperature is 14.5° - 17°C (along the north-south section). At the rapids of Wyville-Thomson (along the line from Ireland to England), the water temperature is 8.5 ° -10 ° C (across the current). And then, in a narrow stream, water with a temperature of 8.5 ° -10 ° C flows to the coast of Norway.

a). Temperature at ch. 200 meters

b). Temperature at ch. 500 m

Figure 15. Temperature distribution at a depth of 200 m. a), at a depth of 500 m. b).

At a depth of 500 m, water with a temperature of 15°-16.5°C leaves the Strait of Florida in a very thin stream. Left along the coast cold water Labrador Current. After passing Cape Hatteras, the temperature is 18°C. At the Newfoundland bank, the water temperature is 4.5° - 12°C (along the north-south section). In front of the Wyville-Thomson threshold (perpendicular to the line from Ireland to England), the water temperature is 7 ° -9 ° C (along the current). Warm water at depth does not pass beyond the Wyville-Thomson threshold. It is located in the area south of Iceland to Ireland, and further south. Beyond the Thomson threshold, the water temperature is from 2° to 5°C. That is, we see that the warm water of the Gulf Stream-North Atlantic Current at a horizon of 500 m does not pass beyond the Thomson Threshold.

Consider the distribution of water temperature at a depth of 1000 m. Along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Strait of Florida and further along the coast of America to M. Hatteras on the map (Fig. 16 c. - blue), which corresponds to cold water of 3.5 ° C. But the fact is that from the Strait of Florida to Cape Hatteras, the depth is 700-800 m (Blake Plateau). The bottom is practically marked here. Vrayonem.Hatteras there is a turn of the Gulf Stream from the edge of the continental shelf towards the open ocean. The ocean depths along the trajectory at the turning point increase at a distance of 20 km. from 1000 to 2000 m (the slope of the bottom here is 5%, and further at a distance of 150 km, from 2000 to 3000 m the slope of the bottom is 1.5%). From Cape Hatteras further to the Newfoundland Bank, the water temperature at the horizon of 1000 m is 7°-12°C, and near the Wyville-Thomson threshold, the water temperature increases to 13-14°C. Beyond Thomson's threshold the water is cold.

The results of this analysis are shown in Table 1.

AT). Temperature at ch. 1000 m

Rice. 15th c. Temperature distribution at a depth of 1000 m.

Table 1.

Strait of Florida	Cape Hatteras	Newfoundland Jar	At the threshold Thomson	beyond the threshold Thomson
Horizon 200 m. 20° Horizon 500 m. 15°-16.5°C Gor. 1000 m No (depth 700-800 m).	18° 18° 7°-12°С	14.5° - 17°С 4.5° - 12°С 7°-12°С	8.5° -10°С 4.5° - 12°С 13-14°С	8.5° -10°С 2° to 5°C 2° to 5°C

“On the left side of the Gulf Stream is the cold Labrador Current. “In October 1962, in the area of ​​Cape Hatteras, at a depth of 800-2500 m, a southward flow was instrumentally recorded. To the north and south of Cape Hatteras, the Deep Western Boundary Current (WBTC) was at some distance from the Gulf Stream. In the area of ​​Cape Hatteras, the WBTC was located directly beside with the Gulfstream rod.

A long series of measurements of near-bottom currents along the 70°W meridian. Averaging over 240 days. Gor. 200 and 1000 m. Average speeds 2.5-4.9 m / s.

The water mass of the GZPT south of Cape Hatteras is identical to the deep flow from the Labrador Basin to the area of ​​Cape Hatteras and further south.

A still unresolved problem is associated with HRRT. According to all the given data, the Florida Current and the Gulf Stream near Cape Hatteras, as well as to the south and northeast of it, extend to the bottom of the ocean. At the same time, the DHST also extends to the ocean floor. To the northeast of Cape Hatteres, the GZPT is located on the left flank of the Gulf Stream, and to the south it is on its right flank. According to (KnaussJ . A .1969), the GZPT passes through the Gulf Stream in the area of ​​cape Hatteras "(Baranov E.I. 1988).

This gives grounds to assume that the beginning of the Antilo-Guiana deep countercurrent was recorded here, the continuation of which is the Equatorial countercurrent. Essentially, these are the components cyclonic large-scale circulation in the North Atlantic. Similar circulations exist separately in the northern and southern parts of the three oceans.

So, the analysis of observations, instrumental and drifter, shows the same picture of the system of Gulf Stream currents, which is given in the Ekipedia.

Why does the Gulf Stream exist? There are different opinions.

Some believe that “the hot and cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean form a kind of conveyor. Hot equatorial waters rise up and form a current, and when they reach the end of the path, they cool. At the same time, they fall down into the water column, and move back to the beginning of the current. Thus the warm Gulf Stream exists.” (Wikipedia).

Others believe that “on a planetary scale, the Gulf Stream, like any world current, is primarily due to the rotation of the Earth, which accelerates tropical trade winds, trade wind currents, including the North Trade Wind Current, drives excess water into the Caribbean Sea, determines the Coriolis force, pressing the current to the east coast of the American continent. Locally, in each individual region, the direction and nature of the current is also determined by the outline of the continents, temperature regime, salinity distribution, and other factors. (Wikipedia).

Due to the fact that there are serious disagreements about the main regularities of the formation and existence of the Gulf Stream, it is advisable to consider the data of numerous instrumental observations. This will allow you to choose from various points of view the most likely to correspond to reality.

First important note: The Gulf Stream is not the only, unique current in the Ocean. There are 5 more such currents, 2 in each ocean - the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. In the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream flows north, and the Brazilian Current flows south. In the Pacific Ocean, the Kuro-Sio current flows to the north, the Australian current to the south, the Somali current to the north in the Indian Ocean, and the Cape Verde (Mozambique) current to the south. That is, separate large-scale anticyclonic circulations form in the northern and southern parts of the three oceans, and the Gulf Stream and similar currents are part of these circulations. A diagram of the ocean currents of the Atlantic Ocean is shown in fig. 16 (Dobrolyubov A. I. 1996).

Rice. 16. Structural similarity of large-scale currents in the Pacific,

Atlantic and Indian Oceans. (Dobrolyubov A. I. 1996).

“The pattern of ocean currents is in full accordance with air currents - winds. Extensive oceanic water cycles, the beginning of which give trade winds currents correspond both in the direction of movement and in the position of the anticyclonic movement of air over the oceans in the Northern Hemisphere clockwise, in the Southern - counterclockwise. (Short geographical encyclopedia. Publishing house "Soviet Russia" M. 1962.).

But there are also doubts about the wind nature of oceanic circulation. E. G. Nikiforov (Institute of the Arctic and Antarctic) at the 1st Congress of Soviet Oceanologists (1977) said: “The problem of explaining the modern water circulation cannot be considered satisfactorily resolved even at the level of qualitative hypotheses. Hypotheses about the wind origin of water circulation do not explain deep circulation, and the hypothesis about the thermohaline nature of water circulation relies mainly on the existing density field. Therefore, no conclusions about the nature of water circulation on the basis of calculations made on the basis of the actual density field ... can be made either.”

Indeed, the trade winds affect only the upper layer of the water mass (up to 200 m). While the current in the equatorial regions is observed to a depth of 4 - 5 km. Similarly, the wind effect (vorticity) on the entire northern (southern) part of the three oceans is limited to upper horizons up to 200 m, while currents are observed to depths of 3000-4000 m.

Regarding the thermohaline nature of the Gulf Stream, Stommel wrote: “It was also established that density differences across the Gulf Stream have nothing to do with the driving force of the Gulf Stream, but simply represent part of the equilibrium caused indirectly by the action of the wind” (Stommell 1963, p. 27).

Ferronsky V.I. (Dynamics of the Earth) put forward a hypothesis, according to which the water masses of the oceans lag behind the speed of the Earth's rotation, the movement of water reaches the western shores of the oceans, the current deviates to the north and south, and large-scale anticyclonic circulations arise. Earlier, such a hypothesis was expressed by I. Kepler.

And finally, the most physically substantiated hypothesis about the cause of the emergence and existence of equatorial currents was expressed by I. Kant (1744). Astronomical observations have shown that the Earth's rotation speed is slowing down (the theory of evolution of the Earth's rotation speed) (Monin, Shishkov). There have been various explanations for the cause of this process. I. Kant suggested that the Moon (and the Sun) drags water along the equator, a current arises from east to west, which, by friction against the bottom, slows down and slows down the speed of rotation. Subsequently (Broche P., Sundermann J. Die Gezeiten des Meeres und die Rotation der Erde. PureAppl. Geophys., 86, 95-117, 1971) suggested that the deceleration is due to viscous negative torques.

It can also be assumed that the equatorial currents, having a large kinetic energy, create a negative rotational moment when they act on the eastern coasts of the continents and turn north and south. This assumption is more physically reliable.

The hypothesis of I. Kant was not recognized for 100 years under the influence of Laplace. At present, there is no doubt that it is the effect of the PO forces of the Moon and the Sun on water masses in the equatorial region that leads to the formation of equatorial currents. About 20 researchers adhere to this point of view: Avsyuk Yu. N., Suvorova I., Svetlozanova I.; Dobrolyubov A. I. 1996, Garetsky R. G.; Monin A. S., Shishkov Yu.; KantI.; LeBlondP. H., MysakL. A., Broche, SündermannJ.; GrovesG. V.; MornerN. A.; MunkW., WunschC.; EgbertG. D., RayR. D.

In the Geographical Encyclopedia (1960) in the article "Tidal Friction" Juan J. Pattullo writes "Harold Jeffreys has calculated that every day about half of all tidal energy is spent on friction against the bottom in shallow seas, for example, in the shallow part of the Bering Sea. Theoretically, this friction should gradually slow down the rotation of the Earth. There is some evidence (on the rings of daily growth of corals) that 400 million years ago the number of days in a year was more than 400; in addition, there are some astronomical data indicating the same.

“Has the Earth, in its rotation around its axis, due to which the change of day and night occurs, undergone some changes since its inception?” I. Kant asks in an article in which he substantiated the slowdown of the Earth’s axial rotation by tidal friction of the waters of the World Ocean.

Think of a philosopher: “Under the influence of lunar attraction, the sea tides move from east to west and slow down the earth’s rotation ... True, I. Kant notes, if we compare the slowness of this movement with the speed of the Earth’s rotation, the insignificance of the amount of water with the enormous size of the globe, it may seem that the action of such a movement should be considered zero. But if, on the other hand, we take into account that this process is carried out tirelessly and eternally, that the rotation of the Earth is free movement, the slightest loss of which remains uncompensated, it would be quite unbecoming prejudice for a philosopher to declare this small effect of no importance. (I. Kant, 1754).

So most physically justified reason The formation and existence of large-scale anticyclonic circulations (and, consequently, the currents of the Gulf Stream, Kuro-shio, etc.) is the daily effect of the tide-forming forces of the Moon and the Sun on water masses in the equatorial regions. It is quite clear that the magnitude of the PO forces (annual average) does not change due to changes in the average temperature, or some other reasons. The average speed of the equatorial currents remains constant, and therefore the speed of the Gulf Stream and similar currents cannot slow down, or stop completely. But since the Gulf Stream determines the climate of Europe, it is necessary to understand the patterns of variability of this current along the route from the Straits of Florida to the coast of Norway, which is one of the reasons for the change in the transfer of heat, the influence on weather and climate.

Literature

Baranov E. I. Structure and dynamics of waters of the Gulf Stream system. M. Gidrometeoizdat, 1988.

Dobrolyubov AI Traveling tidal deformation waves as a generator of global geophysical processes. // Litasfera No. 4, 1996, p. 22-49. Minsk.

Zakharchuk E. A. Synoptic variability of the level and currents in the seas washing the northwestern Arctic coast of Russia. St. Petersburg 2008. 358 p.

Brief geographical encyclopedia. Publishing house "Soviet Russia" M. 1962.

Stommel G. Gulfstream. Physical and dynamic description. 1963 M.I.L.

Ferronsky V.I., Ferronsky S.V. Dynamics of the Earth. M. Scientific world. 2007. 335 p.

Shokalsky Yu. M. Oceanography.L. Gidrometeoizdat. 1959 537 p.

Shchev'ev V. A. Physics of currents in oceans, seas and lakes. History of searches, reflections, delusions, discoveries. 2012 312 p. Publishing house LAMBERTAcademicPublishing.

ISNB: 978-3-8484-1929-6

Shchev'ev V. A. Physics of currents in oceans, seas and lakes.

Broche P., Sundermann J. Die Gezeiten des Meeres und die Rotation der Erde. PureAppl. Geophys., 86, 95-117, 1971).

Kant I. Study of the question of whether changes could have occurred in the rotation of the Earth around its axis, causing a change of day and night, from the first days of its occurrence and how you can find out about this. 1754.

Knauss J. A. A note on the transport of the Golfstream. – Deep-Sea Res., 1969, vol. 16, p. 117-123.

Website oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/at ... orida.html (Artur Moriano).

Atlantic Ocean. WOCE Hydrographic Atlas and Global Climatology. N3. CD.

We have already gotten used to warm winters and hot summers, and therefore the snowy spring and the cold summer of 2017 in Russia contrast very much against this background. Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warn that winters in Europe could get colder. The disruption of water circulation in the oceans and the slowdown of the Gulf Stream can lead to hard-to-calculate, but unequivocally negative consequences for the entire planet.

The Gulf Stream slowed down

The main conclusion of this study is that the circulation of water in the oceans is slowing down and that one of the consequences of this may be a slowing down of the Gulf Stream. This in turn will lead to many disasters. Cold winters in Europe and a severe rise in water levels that will threaten major coastal cities on the US East Coast, such as New York and Boston. According to their data, the Gulf Stream, which brings a mild climate to northern Europe and favorable conditions for residents of the southeastern United States, is slowing down at the fastest rate in the last 1,000 years.

Professor Stefan Ramstorf:

It is immediately apparent that one particular area in the North Atlantic has been cooling for the last hundred years, while the rest of the world has been warming. We have now found compelling evidence that the global pipeline has indeed been weakening over the last hundred years, especially since 1970.

The data obtained by scientists confirm that as global temperatures rise due to climate change, areas warmed by the Gulf Stream show a drop in temperature, especially in winter. An influx of warm water from the equator that travels across the ocean, passing through the Gulf of Mexico and then up the western side of Great Britain and Norway, contributes to the warm climate in northern Europe. This makes winter conditions in much of northern Europe much milder than they would normally be, protecting these regions from large amounts of snow and ice during the winter months.

Now, researchers have found that the water in the North Atlantic Ocean is colder than previously predicted by computer models. According to their calculations, between 1900 and 1970, 8,000 cubic kilometers of fresh water entered the Atlantic Ocean from Greenland. In addition, the same source "provided" an additional 13,000 cubic kilometers between 1970 and 2000. This fresh water is less dense than the salty ocean and therefore tends to float near the surface, upsetting the balance of the vast current.

In the 1990s, circulation began to recover, but the recovery proved to be temporary. Now there is a new weakening, possibly due to the rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

At the moment, the circulation is weaker by 15-20% than one or two decades ago. At first glance, this is not so much. But on the other hand, according to scientists, there has not been anything like this on Earth for at least 1100 years. It is also worrying that the weakening of the circulation is happening faster than the pace predicted by scientists.

Researchers believe that the onset of the Little Ice Age around 1300 was due precisely to the slowing down of the Gulf Stream. In the 1310s, Western Europe, judging by the chronicles, experienced a real ecological catastrophe. The traditionally warm summer of 1311 was followed by four gloomy and rainy summers of 1312-1315. Heavy rains and unusually harsh winters have killed several crops and frozen orchards in England, Scotland, northern France and Germany. In Scotland and northern Germany, viticulture and wine production then ceased. Winter frosts began to hit even northern Italy. F. Petrarch and J. Boccaccio recorded that in the XIV century. snow often fell in Italy.

In 2009-2010, American scientists have already recorded a sudden rise in the water level in the Atlantic off the east coast of America by 10 cm. Then the current weakening of the circulation was just beginning. In case of its sharp weakening, the water level can rise by 1 meter. Moreover, we are talking only about the increase due to the weakening of circulation. To this meter should be added the rise of water, which is expected from global warming.

Scientists have calculated that the warm current of the Gulf Stream is so powerful that it carries more water than all the rivers of the planet combined. Despite all its power, it is only one, albeit a large, component of the global process of thermohaline, that is, temperature-salt water circulation. Its key components are located in the North Atlantic - where the Gulf Stream flows. Therefore, it plays such an important role in shaping the climate on the planet.

The Gulf Stream carries warm water north into colder waters. At the Great Newfoundland Bank, it passes into the North Atlantic Current, which affects the weather in Europe. This current moves further north until the cold, salty waters go deeper due to their increased density. Then the current at a great depth turns around and moves in the opposite direction - to the south. The Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current play a crucial role in shaping the climate because they carry warm water north and cold water south to the tropics, thus constantly mixing water between ocean basins.

If too much ice melts in the North Atlantic (Greenland), then the cold salt water is desalinated. Reducing the salt content of water reduces its density and it rises to the surface. This process can slow down and eventually even stop the thermohaline circulation. What can happen in this case, director Roland Emmerich tried to show in the science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow (2004). In his version, a new ice age has begun on Earth, which provoked catastrophes and chaos on a planetary scale.

Scientists reassure: if this happens, it will not be very soon. However, global warming is indeed slowing down the circulation. One of the consequences, Stefan Ramstorff notes, could be a rise in the level of the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the United States and much colder winters in Europe.

On April 20, 2010, 80 kilometers off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, owned by British Petroleum (BP), which was developing the Macondo field. The oil spill that followed the accident (explosion and fire) became the largest in the history of the United States, turning the accident into one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of negative impact on the ecological situation and the environment.

Italian physicists conducted an experiment in which they used a bath of cold water and gave color to warm water jets. It was possible to see the boundaries of cold layers and warm jets. When oil was added to the bath, the boundaries of the layers of warm water were violated and the current vortex was effectively destroyed. This is exactly what happened in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf Stream. The river of "warm water" that flows from the Caribbean, reaches Western Europe less and less, is dying because of Corexit (COREXIT-9500) - a toxic chemical that the Obama administration allowed BP to use to hide the scale of the disaster resulting from the explosion of the drilling platform in April last year. As a result, according to some reports, about 42 million gallons of this dispersant were poured into the Gulf of Mexico.

Corexit, as well as several million gallons of other dispersants, were added to more than 200 million gallons of crude oil that had been pouring over several months from a well drilled by BP at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. So it was possible to effectively hide most of the oil by sinking it to the bottom, and hope that the BP concern will be able to seriously reduce the size of the federal fine, depending on the size of the oil disaster. Currently, there are no ways to effectively "cleanse" the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, oil reached the east coast of America and then flowed into the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. There, too, there is no way to effectively clean up the oil at the bottom.

The first to report the shutdown of the Gulf Stream was Dr. Gianluigi Zangari, a theoretical physicist at the Frascati Institute in Italy (Rome). He said that due to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, glaciation "is inevitable in the near future." The scientist had previously collaborated with a group of specialists involved in monitoring what was happening in the Gulf of Mexico for several years. His information is contained in a journal article dated June 12, 2010 and is based on satellite data from CCAR Colorado, agreed with US Navy NOAA. This live satellite map data was later altered on the CCAR server and the scientist claims it was a "falsification".

Dr. Zangari argues that a huge amount of oil covers such vast areas that it has a serious impact on the entire thermoregulation system of the planet by destroying the boundary layers of the warm water flow. As a result, in the fall of 2010, the pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico ceased to exist, and satellite data from that period clearly showed that the Gulf Stream began to break apart and die about 250 kilometers east of the coast of North Carolina, despite the width of the Atlantic Ocean at this latitude exceeding 5000 kilometers.

In connection with the interest aroused by the topic of the "disappearance" of the Gulf Stream on the Internet, the Russian scientist Professor Sergey Leonidovich Lopatnikov, the author of two monographs and 130 publications in the field of physics, acoustics, geophysics, mathematics, physical chemistry, and economics, wrote the following on his blog:

About the Gulf Stream and Winter Weather The thermohaline vascular system, where warm waters flow over cooler waters, has a great impact 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 disrupted the normal course of atmospheric flows in the summer of 2010, resulting in unheard of high temperatures in Moscow, droughts and floods in Central Europe, the temperature rose in many Asian countries, there were massive floods in China, Pakistan and other Asian countries.

So what does all this mean? This means that in the future there will be violent mixing of the seasons, frequent crop failures, an increase in the size of droughts and floods in various parts of the Earth. In fact, the creation by BP of an “oil volcano” at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico killed the “pacemaker” of the global climate on the planet. Here is what Dr. Zangari says about it:

I know well the history of our atmosphere, climate, and even what they were like when there was no man yet. For example, hundreds of millions of years ago, the temperature was 12-14 degrees higher than today. Of course, there is something to reproach a person with... Over the past fifty years, industry has worked very intensively, emitting a huge amount of greenhouse gases, which, of course, affected the climate. That is, there is definitely an anthropogenic contribution. But climate is a very subtle phenomenon. In addition to high temperatures, there were also glaciations on Earth. And they occur at concentrations of greenhouse gases below two hundred parts per million. Then the so-called "white earth" appears. So, now we are closer to this “white earth” than to the hottest anomalies that have been in the history of our planet.

Everything that has happened will lead to corresponding consequences for human civilization, to ecological collapse, global famine, deaths and mass migration of the population from areas unsuitable for human habitation. A new ice age can start at any time, and it will start with a glaciation in North America, Europe and Asia, perhaps. A new ice age could kill 2/3 of the human race in the first year if it starts quickly. If everything happens slowly, then most likely, about the same amount of the population will die, but just within a few years!

What do we have at the entrance? During the Gulf Stream, warmer water enters. A fraction of a degree, but it matters. What do we have as a result? Western winds prevailing in the middle of the Atlantic bring warmer and more humid air to southern Europe than before. The so-called "hot glass" over the flat territory of the Russian Federation in the summer he could not break through and dumped moisture in the upper reaches of European rivers (in the mountains).

More importantly, these are lenses made of heavier oil fractions “submerged” with the help of chemical binders hundreds of meters deep. These inclusions prevent convection heat transfer between the bottom and surface layers of water. At the same time, they were "drowned and okay." But because of this, there was a change in the viscosity of water saturated with oil emulsion to great depths due to the treatment of the oil release with the binder Corexit.

As Dr. Zangari notes, “The real concern is that there is no precedent in history for the sudden complete replacement of a natural system with a broken, man-made system.” Worst of all, real-time satellite data is clear evidence to Zangari that a new man-made natural system has emerged in the Gulf of Mexico. Within this new and unnatural system, such parameters as viscosity, temperature and salinity of sea water have changed radically. This stopped the run of the Annular Current in the Gulf of Mexico that had lasted for millions of years.

The opinion expressed by Dr. Zangari with mathematical precision and illustrated by the dynamics of satellite imagery is better to read several times:

Measurements of the temperature of the Gulf Stream in 2010 between the 76th and 47th meridians show that it is 10 degrees Celsius colder than it was during the same period last year. Accordingly, it is possible to speak about the presence of a direct causal relationship between the stoppage of the warm Annular Current in the Gulf of Mexico and the drop in the temperature of the Gulf Stream.

Assumption of Consequences

Meteorologists warn: the planet Earth has entered the so-called small ice age, which may be followed by a big one - this is when even dinosaurs began to die out on Earth. The first alarm bell rang in 2013, when the never-freezing Black Sea was covered with ice. Well, after the beautiful blue Danube and even the Venetian canals froze in Europe, a real panic began in general. What is the reason for such anomalies and how it can turn out for our planet?

Due to the fact that the warm Atlantic Gulf Stream is changing its direction, around 2025, a sharp cooling will most likely begin on Earth. In a matter of days, the Arctic Ocean will freeze and turn into a second Antarctica. After that, a thick layer of ice will cover: the North, Norwegian and even the Baltic Seas. The navigable English Channel and even the never-freezing European rivers Thames and Seine will freeze. AT European countries minus forty degrees of frost will begin. Cold winds will bring heavy snowfalls from the North Atlantic - as a result, all European airports will stop their work, power supply to many cities will stop. In just a few weeks, all of Europe will plunge into pitch darkness, and then turn into an icy desert. All this, according to scientists' forecasts, is a very real scenario of what could happen in just 10 years. The earth will be on the brink of disaster.

Scientists around the world are sounding the alarm - in two years the Gulf Stream deviated from its previous direction by 800 kilometers and now, instead of moving to the northeast (to heat Europe), the warm current turns to the northwest - towards Canada.

If this deviation turns out to be permanent and the Gulf Stream never again goes to the North Atlantic, a global catastrophe will happen on Earth. The Gulf Stream will melt the ice of Greenland; a huge mass of water will pour onto the mainland and will actually wash away all of North America from the face of the Earth, but this is not the worst thing. All this will set the earth's plates in motion, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, tsunamis will begin on the planet. According to scientists, if this happens, two-thirds of the population will die out almost instantly. In the Eastern Hemisphere: in Europe, Asia and even Africa, a new ice age will begin, while the Western Hemisphere will literally be washed away by huge masses of water.

But the worst will happen later. According to scientists, 10 years after the Gulf Stream changes its direction, the current may stop for good. To confirm or disprove this assumption that the Gulf Stream really stops, Canadian researchers went on an experiment - they developed a special dye, poured it into containers and immersed it in the Gulf of Mexico to a depth of 900 meters. There, at a given depth, the dye containers explode, spraying the contents hundreds of meters away. A colored mass of ocean water spills over the Gulf Stream. It's unbelievable, but the suggestion that the Gulf Stream has stopped has been confirmed. Colored water, indeed, did not move towards Europe. Instead, the current has deviated 800 kilometers to the west and is now moving towards Greenland. That is why an anomalous warming is coming in Canada and instead of frost there, for a winter already, you can observe a temperature of about +10 degrees and rains.

For the preparation of the article used:
- an article by Sergei Manukov, posted on the site expert.ru,
- materials from the site