Editing Ocean current (section)

== Effects on climate and ecology ==
Ocean currents affect temperatures throughout the world. For example, the ocean current that brings warm water up the north Atlantic to northwest Europe also cumulatively and slowly blocks ice from forming along the seashores, which would also block ships from entering and exiting inland waterways and seaports, hence ocean currents play a decisive role in influencing the climates of regions through which they flow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is the Gulf Stream? {{!}} NOAA SciJinks – All About Weather |url=https://scijinks.gov/gulf-stream/ |access-date=2024-04-15 |website=scijinks.gov}}</ref> Ocean currents are important in the study of [[marine debris]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |date=1 April 2020 |title=Ocean pollution and marine debris |url=https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-pollution |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=www.noaa.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Sebille |first1=Erik |last2=Aliani |first2=Stefano |last3=Law |first3=Kara Lavender |last4=Maximenko |first4=Nikolai |last5=Alsina |first5=José M |last6=Bagaev |first6=Andrei |last7=Bergmann |first7=Melanie |last8=Chapron |first8=Bertrand |last9=Chubarenko |first9=Irina |last10=Cózar |first10=Andrés |last11=Delandmeter |first11=Philippe |last12=Egger |first12=Matthias |last13=Fox-Kemper |first13=Baylor |last14=Garaba |first14=Shungudzemwoyo P |last15=Goddijn-Murphy |first15=Lonneke |date=2020-02-01 |title=The physical oceanography of the transport of floating marine debris |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6d7d |journal=Environmental Research Letters |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=023003 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ab6d7d |bibcode=2020ERL....15b3003V |issn=1748-9326|hdl=2117/187082 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Marine microplankton.jpg|thumb|Plankton are dispersed by ocean currents.]]
Upwellings and cold ocean water currents flowing from polar and sub-polar regions bring in nutrients that support [[plankton]] growth, which are crucial [[prey]] items for several key species in [[marine ecosystem]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780126009521X50002 |title=Introduction to the Practice of Fishery Science |date=1996 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-600952-1 |editor-last=Royce |editor-first=William F. |chapter=Circulation |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-600952-1.x5000-2}}</ref>

Ocean currents are also important in the dispersal and distribution of many organisms, including those with [[Pelagic zone|pelagic]] egg or larval stages.<ref name=":4" /> An example is the [[Eel life history|life-cycle of the European Eel]]. Terrestrial species, for example tortoises and lizards, can be carried on floating debris by currents to colonise new terrestrial areas and [[Island#Dispersal|islands]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Hays |first=Graeme C. |date=5 June 2017 |title=Ocean currents and marine life |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982217300775 |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=27 |issue=11 |pages=R470–R473 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.044|pmid=28586681 |bibcode=2017CBio...27.R470H }}</ref>