The Gulf Stream

Dear Green Teaching and Learning Community, on today's Wednesday it is my privilege to post environmental content from the natural sciences for us. Following this Sunday's input on how the Spirit of God hovered over the Waters during the account of the creation of the Earth, I would like to write about the seas again.

I want to table the Gulf Stream system. Six days ago a new study was published showing that the gulf stream is now slower than ever during the past millennium. This is caused by human-induced climate change.

The gulf stream is a big ocean "conveyer belt" current that transports warm and cold water across the Atlantic and helps keep our temperatures stable.

The slower it moves, the slower warm waters are transported away from the western coast of Africa and eastern coast of the USA and cooler waters from the Arctic Sea is lacking in these regions where it usually cools down temperatures. Increasing temperatures and storms could be the consequences for Northern Europe and Western Africa. Also, sea levels could rise at the coast of the USA. The exact consequences are still subject to further research.

More information on the new study can be found here: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/gulf-stream-system-at-its-weakest-in-over-a-millennium

This video gives you a short introduction to how the gulf stream works.

- The Green Teaching and Learning Community