The River in the Atlantic Ocean
January 10th, 2009
Winslow Homer’s famous painting (left) shows a sailor wrestling against the Gulf Stream current that pushes water from the Americas to Europe and back with a force three hundred times more powerful than the Amazon River. Stan Ulanski (James Madison University) explains that the Gulf Stream was essential to the early exploration of the New World and continues to influence our climate, weather, environment, and shipping industry. Also: Brian Payne (Old Dominion University) reveals how gangs of fisherman in the 1800s argued and fought over fishing grounds even as they practiced a kind of early environmentalism.