Rocket unrolls a map of the Atlantic Ocean across the Station Rooftop table and pins the corners with rain gauges.
"If the ocean moves heat," he says, "then somewhere there must be a river of warm water. I want to find it."
Raven reads the NOAA notes beside the map. "There is. It starts off the coast of Florida."
"What do you notice about where it turns?" she asks. Rocket follows the arrows north, then sharply east.
Nova floats over the far side of the ocean and glows softly above Europe. "Where does the warm water end up?" she asks. "And who lives there?"
Rocket draws the final arrow. "All the way across," he says. "That is a long way to carry heat."
The Gulf Stream is an intense, warm ocean current in the western North Atlantic.
NOAA describes it moving north along the coast of Florida, turning east off North Carolina, then flowing northeast across the Atlantic.
Its average speed is 6.4 kilometers per hour, about 4 miles per hour. Near the surface it can reach about 9 kilometers per hour.
The Gulf Stream carries more water than all of the world's rivers combined.
NOAA calls it the main conveyor of heat from south to north in the Atlantic.
NASA notes that places like Europe have milder climates thanks to the warm currents in the oceans around them.
| Gulf Stream fact | Number |
|---|---|
| Average speed | 6.4 kilometers per hour (about 4 miles per hour) |
| Fastest speed near the surface | About 9 kilometers per hour (5.6 miles per hour) |
| Speed as it widens to the north | About 1.6 kilometers per hour (1 mile per hour) |
| Water carried | More than all the world's rivers combined |
Unequal heating by the Sun makes the tropics warm and the poles cold.
Earth's rotation bends the winds through the Coriolis effect, and those winds push the surface currents.
Cold, salty water sinks near the poles and drives the slow global conveyor belt.
Together, these currents carry heat around the planet. That is why a place's climate depends on its latitude, its altitude and the ocean nearby.
This is the model NGSS asks you to build: unequal heating plus rotation makes circulation, and circulation shapes regional climates.
| Week review | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The ocean covers about 70 percent of Earth's surface. | ? |
| The Coriolis effect comes from Earth's rotation. | ? |
| Deep ocean currents are driven by cold, salty water sinking. | ? |
| A climate normal is a 10-year average. | ? |
| The Gulf Stream carries heat from north to south. | ? |
Currents are not only a science idea. Ships have long used the trade winds to help them cross between Europe and the Americas.
NOAA notes that the deep conveyor belt also carries nutrients. Those nutrients feed the algae at the base of the ocean food chain.
And the heat the ocean stores shapes the growing season, the rain and the winter in every coastal place.
Next week, the crew looks at how the ocean has been taking in extra heat, and how scientists measure it.
Terrific week. Tomorrow's Station Day brings the whole family to the map.