Higher Geography – Atmosphere Practice Test

The key idea is how surface currents affect temperature along coastlines. Along the northwest African coast, the water moves southward as a cold eastern boundary current of the North Atlantic gyre. The Canary Current brings cooler waters from higher latitudes toward the equator, and its coastal upwelling helps sustain rich marine life and cooler coastal conditions. This is different from the Gulf Stream and its extension, the North Atlantic Drift, which are warm currents moving northeast toward Europe, and from the Labrador Current that lies off eastern Canada. So the cold current along the northwest African coast is the Canary Current.