666 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



consequently the total quantity of heat transferred from the tropics 

 by this current amounts to 154,959,300,000,000,000,000 foot-pounds 

 per diem. Even if we reduce this estimate one half, the stoppage of 

 the Gulf Stream would still deprive the Atlantic of a quantity of heat 

 equal to one fourth of all that is received directly from the sun by 

 that area. 



It is beyond .doubt, therefore, that the passage of so great a body 

 of heated water into the North Atlantic, over the surface of which it 

 spreads for so many thousands of square miles, must have a most pow- 

 erful influence on the climate of those regions to which its heat is 

 brought by prevalent winds. This is the case more especially with 

 France, our own islands, Norway, the Faroes, and Iceland. "With us 

 the prevalent winds are westerly and southwesterly, and these, as they 

 sweep across the Atlantic, filch warmth and moisture from the Gulf 

 Stream, which they part with as they pass over us in their course to- 

 ward the northeast. How very materially our climate is thus affected 

 will be readily seen if we compare the mean winter and summer tem- 

 peratures of places in the same latitudes of North America and Eu- 

 rope. Thus at Bordeaux, in north latitude 44 50', we have a winter 

 temperature of +41 Fahr., and a summer mean of +69 - l Fahr., while 

 at Halifax (Nova Scotia), in the same latitude (north latitude 44*39), 

 the winter mean is + 22"6, and that of summer + 63'5. Again, at 

 Killybegs (Ireland), in north latitude 54 38', the winter temperature 

 is H-41'4 , and that of summer +58 7 the winter and summer means 

 of a corresponding latitude on the Labrador coast being +5 and +49 

 respectively. Once more, at Wick (north latitude 58 25') the win- 

 ter temperature is +38*5, and that of summer +56 , 5, while at He- 

 bron (Labrador), in north latitude 58 16', we get a winter mean of 

 5L and a summer mean of + 46"1. Now t , were the Gulf Stream to 

 be stopped, the temperature of the maritime regions of Northwestern 

 Europe would probably fall as low as that of corresponding latitudes 

 in America. In the event of that stream being diverted out of the 

 North Atlantic, the polar currents flowing south would of course oc- 

 cupy the greater portion of the oceanic surface to the west of us, and 

 hence our west and southwest winds would be cold and ungenial. Were 

 such a catastrophe to happen, we may be sure that the Scandinavian 

 Peninsula and a large part of our own islands would not be habitable 

 by civilised man, while Ieeland would become as inaccessible as Franz- 

 Josef Land is now. Our own shores would be frost-bound for a large 

 part of the year, and perennial snow and glaciers would appear in our 

 mountain districts. On the other hand, if we could suppose the body 

 of warm water now flowing into the North Atlantic to be largely in- 

 creased in volume, there can be just as little doubt that the climate of 

 Northwestern Europe would be much improved, and even Spitzbergen 

 and Nova Zembla might be rendered fit abodes for civilized commu- 

 nities. 



