When you blow across a cup of hot chocolate, you create tiny ripples on its surface that continue to move after you’ve stopped blowing. The ripples in the cup are tiny waves, just like the waves that wind forms on the ocean surface.

But what makes the wind start to blow?

Earth’s equator is warmed by the most direct rays of the Sun, air at the equator is hotter than air further north or south.

What happens to this hotter air?

Surface currents play a large role in determining climate. These currents bring warm water from the equator to cooler parts of the ocean; they transfer heat energy.

The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that ----

The Gulf Stream’s warm waters give Europe a much warmer climate than other places at the same latitude. What would happen if the Gulf Stream were severely disrupted?