<P> However, the extent of its contribution to the actual temperature differential between North America and Europe is a matter of dispute, as there is a recent minority opinion within the science community that this temperature difference (beyond that caused by contrasting maritime and continental climates) is mainly due to atmospheric waves created by the Rocky Mountains . </P> <P> A river of sea water, called the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, flows westward off the coast of Central Africa . When this current interacts with the northeastern coast of South America, the current forks into two branches . One passes into the Caribbean Sea, while a second, the Antilles Current, flows north and east of the West Indies . These two branches rejoin north of the Straits of Florida . </P> <P> The trade winds blow westward in the tropics, and the westerlies blow eastward at mid-latitudes . This wind pattern applies a stress to the subtropical ocean surface with negative curl across the north Atlantic Ocean . The resulting Sverdrup transport is equatorward . </P> <P> Because of conservation of potential vorticity caused by the northward - moving winds on the subtropical ridge's western periphery and the increased relative vorticity of northward moving water, transport is balanced by a narrow, accelerating poleward current, which flows along the western boundary of the ocean basin, outweighing the effects of friction with the western boundary current, known as the Labrador current . The conservation of potential vorticity also causes bends along the Gulf Stream, which occasionally break off due to a shift in the Gulf Stream's position, forming separate warm and cold eddies . This overall process, known as western intensification, causes currents on the western boundary of an ocean basin, such as the Gulf Stream, to be stronger than those on the eastern boundary . </P>

What effect does the gulf stream have on our weather