What is the difference between thermohaline circulation and the Gulf Stream?
Media coverage has tended to cite a shutdown of the Gulf Stream as the mechanism for abrupt climate change, but this is not fully accurate. The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that flows north along the coast of the U.S. then crosses the North Atlantic to Western Europe, forming part of a larger clockwise circulation of surface waters in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream is part of the global thermohaline circulation, but it is also driven by winds (resulting form uneven heating of Earth’s surface)contacting the ocean surface. Both the winds and the resulting currents are greatly influenced by Earth’s rotation. If the deep-ocean thermohaline circulation were shut off, these winds would still drive the Gulf Stream and the clockwise currents in the Atlantic. However, the influx of warm, salty water from the tropics would decrease and the Gulf Stream might become fresher and cooler, and might not extend as far north.
