warm current
Tropical ocean river
A warm current is an ocean current that carries water warmer than the surrounding sea, typically flowing from tropical regions toward the poles.
The Gulf Stream is the most familiar example, moderating climates along coastlines it passes: The warm current keeps winters mild in western Europe.
Contrasts with cold currents, which flow from polar regions toward the equator.
- El NiñoPeriodic Pacific warming event
- Gulf StreamWarm Atlantic ocean current
- downwellingFluid sinking from surface
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- monsoonSeasonal tropical wind pattern
coral bleaching · gyre · heat transfer · drift · Coriolis effect · heat wave · balmy · balmy breeze · sun · coastal ecosystem · temperate · tropical · thermal · conveyor · circulation · coastline · trade winds · La Niña
- ocean currentsGulf Stream, surface currents, deep currents, cold currents, tidal currents
- tropical oceanCaribbean Sea, coral reef, lagoon, atoll, Pacific islands