Cold currents can also cause

Analyze the question

The question asks about an effect of cold ocean currents on the climate of nearby coastal areas.

Explain the concept

Cold currents (e.g., the Benguela Current off southwest Africa, the Canary Current off northwest Africa, the Peru/Humboldt Current) flow from polar or high-latitude areas toward the equator. They cool the air above them. This has these effects:

• The air over the current is cooled and becomes stable, so it cannot rise easily to form rain clouds.
• Moisture in the air condenses close to the surface, producing fog and mist.
• Coastal regions beside these currents tend to be dry or desert-like (e.g., the Namib Desert and the Atacama Desert).
• Temperatures of the adjacent land are lowered, not raised.

Solution: checking each option

• A. Rise in tide: Tides are caused mainly by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun, not by ocean currents. Wrong.
• B. Rise in temperature of the area: This is the effect of warm currents. Cold currents lower the temperature. Wrong.
• C. Sea level to rise: Currents do not cause sea level rise. Wrong.
• D. Fogs instead of actual rain: Cold currents chill the air so that moisture condenses as fog or mist, with little actual rainfall. Correct.

Tip: Remember it this way: Warm current = warm, wet (rain); Cold current = cool, dry, foggy. Think of the Namib Desert's coastal fogs from the Benguela Current. Questions on currents often test this contrast.