Gulf Stream not only brings us waste but warmth
I have spent several days with volunteers picking plastic and other detritus off the beaches in Cornwall.
Among the typical rubbish one might expect: old crisp packets (very old in some cases such as the Quavers bag dating from 1980), plastic bottles and fishing line, we discovered objects that had come from far further afield.
On Porth Mear Bay, for example, a tin of custard from the United Arab Emirates turned up.
On nearby Constantine Bay, we discovered lobster-pot tags from Newfoundland written in 1986 and a barnacle-encrusted marine monitor from Nova Scotia that had broken free of its moorings and floated all the way across the Atlantic to be deposited on this golden arc of Cornish sand.
Depressing as it was to witness at first hand the sheer scale and indestructibility of the plastic waste in our oceans, there was something fascinating about the fact that this marine rubbish would have been dragged thousands of miles eastwards by the Gulf Stream, one of the strongest ocean currents in the world.
It is not just ocean waste these currents move but weather patterns as well. Without the heat the Gulf Stream brings over across the Atlantic, the British Isles and much of northern Europe would be far colder in winter – by as much as an estimated 40F (5C).
Gradually, the Gulf Stream is in fact slowing down. Over the 21st century, its rate of flow is predicted to decrease by up to 25 per cent. Before you start breaking up the kitchen table for firewood, however, I should point out that rising global temperatures are predicted to negate this effect.
As for this weekend, the Gulf Stream will be bringing us a few squalls of wind and rain in western areas – with showers turning wintry in the north at the start of next week. And on our beaches, no doubt, another tide of plastic. Fortunately, it looks to be perfect weather for beachcombing. Joe Shute