4 ms·

Its quite impressive that this current transports 1 PW (yes, petawatts: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/

Its quite impressive that this current transports 1 PW (yes, petawatts: http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html). If it would be stopping completely, this would naively (excluding other accompanying effects) remove 1 PW of heating from the coasts of Europe. This 1PW of heat would need to disperse somewhere else.

pvaldes 7y ago
> This 1PW of heat would need to disperse somewhere else. more hurricanes
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
esotericn 7y ago
The effects of the gulfstream are utterly enormous. Compare the climate at the arctic circle in Norway/Sweden to Canada. The Arctic itself is very asymmetrical as a result.
- mrfusion 7y ago
  I never understood why the Gulf Stream heats Europe but not the us east coast. It passes by there first. It seems like it would only get colder after that.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    >I never understood why the Gulf Stream heats Europe but not the us east coast. Who said it doesn't? It absolutely does, that's one of the reason why the east coast is warmer than equivalent (as of latitude) areas in Europe are (plus other effects on the weather there).
    - mrfusion 7y ago
      The east coast isn’t warmer. France is the same latitude as Maine.
      - nostrademons 7y ago
        It does heat the east coast of the U.S, but not nearly as much as Northern Europe. The main complication is that prevailing weather tends to move west-to-east (because of the Coriolis force at typical U.S. latitudes), which means the east coast gets more continental air masses from Canada and the Plains than oceanic air masses. But compare Boston to Chicago, NYC to Kansas, or Washington D.C. to Colorado. All of the former are at higher latitudes, but tend to have milder temperatures than the latter. (Some of this is due to the moderating effect of water in general, but winters in coastal Boston are generally milder than in Chicago despite the latter also being on water and at a lower latitude.)
      - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
        https://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/spaghetti-speed/gulf-stream.jpg https://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/spaghetti-spe... shows the Gulf Stream as being pretty far away from Maine, though. From that map, I'd expect it to warm the US east coast below Cape Hatteras, and not much north of there.
        mrfusion 7y ago
        Wow that explains it. Thanks. A picture=1000 words. This even shows a cold pocket of water by northern Florida.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        The East Coast is a lot more than Maine though. By that point the Gulf Stream has already moved eastwards...

pvaldes 7y ago

> This 1PW of heat would need to disperse somewhere else. more hurricanes

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

esotericn 7y ago

The effects of the gulfstream are utterly enormous. Compare the climate at the arctic circle in Norway/Sweden to Canada. The Arctic itself is very asymmetrical as a result.

mrfusion 7y ago
I never understood why the Gulf Stream heats Europe but not the us east coast. It passes by there first. It seems like it would only get colder after that.
- coldtea 7y ago
  >I never understood why the Gulf Stream heats Europe but not the us east coast. Who said it doesn't? It absolutely does, that's one of the reason why the east coast is warmer than equivalent (as of latitude) areas in Europe are (plus other effects on the weather there).
  - mrfusion 7y ago
    The east coast isn’t warmer. France is the same latitude as Maine.
    - nostrademons 7y ago
      It does heat the east coast of the U.S, but not nearly as much as Northern Europe. The main complication is that prevailing weather tends to move west-to-east (because of the Coriolis force at typical U.S. latitudes), which means the east coast gets more continental air masses from Canada and the Plains than oceanic air masses. But compare Boston to Chicago, NYC to Kansas, or Washington D.C. to Colorado. All of the former are at higher latitudes, but tend to have milder temperatures than the latter. (Some of this is due to the moderating effect of water in general, but winters in coastal Boston are generally milder than in Chicago despite the latter also being on water and at a lower latitude.)
    - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
      https://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/spaghetti-speed/gulf-stream.jpg https://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/spaghetti-spe... shows the Gulf Stream as being pretty far away from Maine, though. From that map, I'd expect it to warm the US east coast below Cape Hatteras, and not much north of there.
      - mrfusion 7y ago
        Wow that explains it. Thanks. A picture=1000 words. This even shows a cold pocket of water by northern Florida.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      The East Coast is a lot more than Maine though. By that point the Gulf Stream has already moved eastwards...