North Atlantic Current of Northwestern Europe. Other branches include the Irminger Current and the Norwegian Current. Driven by the global thermohaline circulation, the North Atlantic Current is part of the wind-driven Gulf Stream, which goes further east and north from the North American coast across the Atlantic and into the Arctic Ocean. The North Atlantic Current, together with the Gulf Stream, have a long-lived reputation for having a considerable warming influence on European climate. However, the principal cause for differences in winter climate between North America and Europe seems to be winds rather than ocean currents (although the currents do exert influence at
Drift current same direction as the electric field, but the resulting conventional current points in the same direction as the electric field in both cases. If an electric field is applied to an electron in a vacuum, the electron will accelerate faster and faster, in approximately a straight line. A drift current looks very different than that up close. Typically, electrons are moving randomly in all directions (Brownian motion), frequently changing direction when they collide with grain boundaries or other disturbances. Between collisions, the electric field subtly accelerates them in one direction. So over time, they move at the drift velocity on