Ocean currents and wind currents are a huge part of the systems on earth. They have global impact on our environment and on mankind. There are many currents which all have their own characteristics and effects on different parts of the world. One of the world’s major ocean currents is the Kuroshio Current, a north-eastward flowing current, which flows along Japan and eventually merges with the easterly drift of the north pacific. The current transports warm, tropical water towards the polar region. Due to the warm water, the huge and beautiful coral reefs of Japan stay sustained. But its sudden variation has disastrous effects on the fisheries.
The ultramarine colour of the warm water gave the current its name, ‘Kuro-shio’, which means ‘black
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The movement of the water is caused by multiple factors such as the prevailing winds, the rotation of the earth and salinity.
Ocean currents that are caused by prevailing winds are called drift currents. The prevailing winds are winds that blow from one general direction to a particular point on the earth. The winds cause friction on the water causing the water to move in the same direction. That is why the patterns of wind and ocean currents are mostly identical.
On the northern hemisphere the circulation of the currents is clockwise and the circulation of the currents on the southern hemisphere is anti clockwise. This has to do with the rotation of the earth, which links to the Coriolis effect. When wind travels, it moves from high to low pressure (Buys Ballot’s law). Due to the Coriolis effect the winds doesn’t move from the polar areas to the equator in a straight line. Because the earth is constantly spinning around its own axis, the winds are deflected to the left or the right. On the northern hemisphere they are deflected to the right and on the southern hemisphere they are deflected to the left. These left and right are based on the view towards the