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A current is the steady, predictable movement of a fluid within a larger body of that fluid. Fluids are materials capable of flowing and easily changing shape. The most familiar natural fluid is water. But air is considered a fluid as well. Electricity can also flow as a current.
Air currents flow in the atmosphere, the layer of air surrounding the Earth. Water currents flow in rivers, lakes, and, oceans. Electric currents flow through power lines or as lightning.
Air Currents
Moving air is called wind. Air currents are winds that move in a riverlike flow in a certain direction. Thermal updrafts are gentle currents caused by warm air rising. Birds like eagles or California condors often ride these updrafts high into the sky. Jet streams are rapidly moving cold currents that circle the Earth high in the atmosphere.
Air currents are caused by the sun's uneven heating of the Earth. As sunlight beams down on the Earth, it warms some areas, particularly the tropics, more than others. As the Earth's surface is heated, it warms the air just above it. The warmed air expands and becomes lighter than the surrounding air. It rises, creating a warm air current. Cooler, heavier air then pushes in to replace the warm air, forming a cool air current.
Some air currents are familiar. Santa Ana winds are seasonal (fall) occurrences in southern California. These warm, dry currents blow from the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin toward the Pacific Ocean. Jet streams are familiar to mountaineers who climb Mount Everest, Earths tallest point.
The summit of Mount Everest actually pierces the jet stream, creating icy winds at the top of the world.
Water Currents
A river current is the water moving in a river. Rivers flow from high points to lower ones and eventually down to a larger body of water. The force of gravity, which makes the water flow downward, creates river currents.
Many factors contribute to the strength of river currents. River currents are influenced by the volume, or amount, of water flowing in a river. A rivers steepness as it flows toward its destination can affect its currents. The steepness of a river is called its stream gradient. A river beds topography also influences its currents. Topography refers to the surface features of an area. A riverbeds topography can include sandbars, basins, and dams.
The Nile River flows north from the high elevations of sub-Saharan Africa to the low-lying areas of Egypt near the Mediterranean Sea. The Niles currents gain strength as the volume of water increases, especially where the Blue Nile (starting in Ethiopia) and the White Nile (starting in Tanzania) merge. The Aswan Dam, in southern Egypt, severely reduces and controls the flow of Nile River currents.
Ocean currents are great streams of water flowing both near the oceans surface and far below it. Prevailing winds (air currents) that blow over parts of the ocean push the water along, creating surface currents. Winds can also contribute to upwelling, or currents that move cold, nutrient-rich water from the bottom of the ocean to the surface.
The spin of the Earth from west to east causes ocean currents to swerve to the right north of the Equator and to the left south of the Equator. This swerving, known as the Coriolis effect, sets surface currents flowing clockwise in a circular pattern in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Differences in seawater density also cause ocean currents. Waters density is affected by its temperature and salinity, or saltiness. The colder and saltier the water is, the denser and heavier it is. Cold, dense water tends to sink and flow under warmer, lighter water, creating a current. The strength of ocean currents is measured in sverdrups (SVAIR-drups), named after a Norwegian oceanographer.
The Gulf Stream is one of the most well-known ocean currents in the world. This warm current flows from the Gulf of Mexico, around the U.S. state of Florida, up the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream is very powerful. Because of the Gulf Stream, northern Europe is warmer than any other area at its latitude, including Alaska and Russia.
Electrical Currents
Electricity is the flow of electrons. Electrons are parts of atoms, of which all things are made. For this reason, almost any surface can be electric under the right conditions.
Electricity needs a conductor. Metals like copper are good conductors for electricity in homes and businesses. Clothes, carpets, and human beings can be conductors of static electricity currents. The strength of electricity is measured in amperes (amps).
The vacuum of space can actually be a conductor. The solar wind is a flow of a type of electricity from the sun. The solar wind flows all the way to the edge of the solar system. On Earth, the solar wind is blocked by the atmosphere. We can see the impact of the solar wind as the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights, bright slashes of color that sometimes appear in the sky near the North and South Poles.
River currents can be influenced by climate, location, and topography.
Photograph by Pearce Adams, MyShot
Streaming Current
Parts of the Gulf Stream ocean current are up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) wide and more than a kilometer (half mile) deep.
air current
Noun
flowing movement of air within a larger body of air.
ampere
Noun
unit measuring electrical current, the amount of electrical charge moving through a conductor in one second. Abbreviated A or amp.
Aswan Dam
Noun
system of two dams in Egypt that control the flow of the Nile River for agricultural, electrical, and sanitary uses.
atom
Noun
the basic unit of an element, composed of three major parts: electrons, protons, and neutrons.
Blue Nile
Noun
tributary of the Nile River flowing from Lake Tana in Ethiopia and meeting the White Nile at Khartoum, Sudan, to form the Nile River.
conductor
Noun
material that transfers heat, light, electricity, or sound.
copper
Noun
chemical element with the symbol Cu.
Noun
the result of Earth's rotation on weather patterns and ocean currents. The Coriolis effect makes storms swirl clockwise in the Southern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
dam
Noun
structure built across a river or other waterway to control the flow of water.
destination
Noun
place where a person or thing is going.
electric current
Noun
rate of flow of electricity, measured in amperes.
electricity
Noun
set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge.
electron
Noun
negatively charged subatomic particle.
Noun
imaginary line around the Earth, another planet, or star running east-west, 0 degrees latitude.
fluid
Noun
material that is able to flow and change shape.
gravity
Noun
physical force by which objects attract, or pull toward, each other.
Gulf Stream
Noun
warm current that starts in the Gulf of Mexico and travels along the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada before crossing the North Atlantic Ocean.
impact
Noun
meaning or effect.
influence
Verb
to encourage or persuade a person or organization to act a certain way.
merge
Verb
to combine.
metal
Noun
category of elements that are usually solid and shiny at room temperature.
mountaineer
Noun
someone who climbs mountains.
Mount Everest
Noun
highest spot on Earth, approximately 8,850 meters (29,035 feet). Mount Everest is part of the Himalaya and straddles the border of Nepal and China.
Nile River
Noun
(5,592 kilometers/3,473 miles) river in East Africa.
northern lights
Noun
also known as the aurora borealis. The bright bands of color around the North Pole caused by the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field.
oceanographer
Noun
person who studies the ocean.
power line
Noun
cable or cord used to transfer electricity from a power plant to a population center. Also called a transmission line.
prevailing wind
Noun
wind that blows from one direction.
reduce
Verb
to lower or lessen.
river bed
Noun
material at the bottom of a river.
salinity
Noun
saltiness.
sandbar
Noun
underwater or low-lying mound of sand formed by tides, waves, or currents.
Santa Ana winds
Noun
extremely strong, dry winds flowing from the Mojave Desert or Great Basin through Southern California to the Pacific Ocean.
seawater
Noun
salty water from an ocean or sea.
solar system
Noun
the sun and the planets, asteroids, comets, and other bodies that orbit around it.
solar wind
Noun
flow of charged particles, mainly protons and electrons, from the sun to the edge of the solar system.
southern lights
Noun
the bright bands of color around the South Pole caused by the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. Also known as the aurora australis.
Noun
fixed point that, along with the North Pole, forms the axis on which the Earth spins.
static electricity
Noun
motionless electronic charge that builds up on a material.
stream gradient
Noun
measurement of how steep a riverbed is.
sub-Saharan Africa
Noun
geographic region located south of the Sahara Desert in Africa.
summit
Noun
highest point of a mountain.
sverdrup
Noun
measurement of the strength of ocean currents.
thermal
Noun
rising current of warm air.
topography
Noun
study of the shape of the surface features of an area.
Plural Noun
region generally located between the Tropic of Cancer (23 1/2 degrees north of the Equator) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23 1/2 degrees south of the Equator).
updraft
Noun
rising movement of gas.
Noun
process in which cold, nutrient-rich water from the bottom of an ocean basin or lake is brought to the surface due to atmospheric effects such as the Coriolis force or wind.
vacuum
Noun
area of empty space.
volume
Noun
space an object occupies.
White Nile
Noun
tributary of the Nile River flowing from the highland rivers of Burundi to Lake Victoria and meeting the Blue Nile to form the Nile River at Khartoum, Sudan.
Noun
movement of air (from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone) caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun.
