Reading Migrations, a novel by Charlotte McConaghy (and a gift from my son), I was moved to review the oceanic currents of the North Atlantic. Long known to affect regional climate, marine life populations and ship traffic, these rivers in the sea are the product of Earth's rotation.
At the Davis Strait, the Baffin Island and West Greenland currents merge to form the Labrador Current which hugs the eastern coast of Labrador as it flows to the SSE. Nearing Newfoundland, it bifurcates to enclose that scenic island Province and then continues along the coasts of Nova Scotia and New England, fueling the marine ecosystems of that region. In concert, the Gulf Stream develops in the Florida Strait and sweeps its warm waters northeastward, producing a relatively mild climate in Iceland, the British Isles and the western coast of Europe (as far south as the Canary Islands of Northern Africa). Where these two major currents merge, fog, stormy weather and turbulent seas threaten trans-Atlantic shipping, not to mention the icebergs carried south by the Labrador Current.
The novel referenced above is set in the future, after global warming has severely impacted the flora and fauna of our planet. Marine scientists currently expect climate change to markedly diminish the benefits of the Labrador Current, augmenting the decimation of fish populations in the North Atlantic, already threatened by over-fishing and pollution.
