34 THE OCEAN 



and they have a tremendously important bear- 

 ing upon the climates of the countries whose 

 shores they wash. Indeed a great many 

 of the most productive and fertile por- 

 tions of the earth would be barren and unin- 

 habitable were it not for these ocean streams 

 to which most people give so little thought. 

 Thus, if it were not for the arctic current 

 which flows along our eastern coast, New York 

 would have a semi-tropical climate, for it is 

 in the same latitude as southern Italy and 

 Spain. On the other hand, if the course of 

 the Arctic current or the Gulf Stream should 

 be altered and the cold water from the north 

 should be diverted towards Europe, Dublin 

 and London would have the cold, dreary 

 climate of Labrador and Newfoundland. So 

 also, on our Pacific coast the warm water of 

 the Japan Stream gives to British Columbia 

 and Oregon a mild, pleasant climate, al- 

 though these places are as far north as New- 

 foundland. Could man manage to alter the 

 courses of any of these great ocean currents 

 he could change the climate of continents and 

 produce perpetual summer where now the 



