Orbital View: Ocean Currents (in motion)
Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.
From the caption for this mesmerizing 3D model:
Driven by wind and other forces, currents on the ocean surface cover our planet. Seen from space, the circulating waters offer a study in both chaos and order. Watch powerful, fast-moving currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific Ocean carry warm waters northeastward at speeds greater than 4 mph. View coastal currents such as the Agulhas in the Southern Hemisphere transporting equatorial waters from the Indian Ocean farther southwards.