Thanks for your great question! The Atlantic Ocean plays a large role in controlling the climate of eastern North America. An ocean current is the continuous movement of seawater in a certain direction. The ocean currents are caused by winds blowing on the water surface and by changes in the temperature and salinity (saltiness) of the ocean water. If water is saltier or colder it will sink because it’s heavier, and this sinking sets up a type of circulation known as thermohaline circulation. The combination of thermohaline circulation and wind direction plays a role in setting up the general directions that ocean currents are flowing. Off the coast of eastern Canada, the most important ocean current is known as the Labrador current.

The Labrador Current flows southwards from the arctic along the coasts of Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, which are in eastern Canada. This current brings cool temperatures to eastern Canada and also carries icebergs from the Greenland ice sheets southward. Near Nova Scotia, the Labrador Current runs into the Gulf Stream, which is a northward flowing current that brings warm waters along the east coast of the United States from Florida to Canada. When these two currents run into each other they sometimes create a lot of fog in a part of Canada known as the Grand Banks.