Gulf Stream Temperatures.

I am guessing, but I would think the oil spill has negligible effect. That was 2 years ago. I think other factors are at play.

In 2010 there was a lot of chatter that the oil spill will usher in another ice age or drop the temperature because the Gulf Stream would slow down or even stop. That did not seem to go anywhere, so I guess the next logical step is to lay claim to the oil spill driving temperatures up. :)

Who is saying he Gulf Stream temperatures are at record highs? Do you have a link?

Would higher Gulf Stream temperatures impact the pole? Probably would make a slight impact as well as the rest of the continents touched by the Gulf Stream. However, we are finding that the Gulf Stream's impact is somewhat less than what was originally postulated in the 1900s.

And to the south of us, they are reporting the largest amount of ice in the antarctic for this time of year.

It could have some minor effect....

"The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The process of western intensification causes the Gulf Stream to be a northward accelerating current off the east coast of North America. At about 40°0′N 30°0′W, it splits in two, with the northern stream crossing to northern Europe and the southern stream recirculating off West Africa. The Gulf Stream influences the climate of the east coast of North America from Florida to Newfoundland, and the west coast of Europe. Although there has been recent debate, there is consensus that the climate of Western Europe and Northern Europe is warmer than it would otherwise be due to the North Atlantic drift, one of the branches from the tail of the Gulf Stream. It is part of the North Atlantic Gyre. Its presence has led to the development of strong cyclones of all types, both within the atmosphere and within the ocean."

Here's an interesting tidbit from the folks at CalTech:

""These warm ocean waters off the eastern coast actually make it cold in winter-it's counterintuitive," says Tapio Schneider, the Frank J. Gilloon Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering."

http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/13408

Let's keep this all in perspective:

"The average sea surface temperature for the waters over the Northeast continental shelf, from North Carolina to Canada, was a little over 50.5 degrees from January through June, breaking the previous record of 50.45 degrees for the same six months set in 1951. The average temperature for those months during the past three decades has been about 48 degrees. ^[2] "
http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_t38_2/temperature-water-average.html

Two degrees over average that virtually matches a 1951 occurence (within five one-hundredths of a degree). If this trend kept climbing, we might be concerned, otherwise, this just might be the random confluence of conditions creating this anomaly. I don't think we need to panic yet.

Maybe the warmah temperatures helped with the lobster harvests.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2011/0222/Maine-lobster-harvest-hits-record

Get the butter melting, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Time for some clackers. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

One of the main headlines on the radio news this morning was that summer ice in the Arctic is at an all time low.

This was coupled with the news story that "they" are calling for a halt to oil drilling in Arctic regions since the regulators don't think the industry's safety processes are up to snuff.

If the Gulf Stream / North Atlantic Drift is warming up along with other world temperatures, that doesn't gel with the predictions of the GW models, which said that the NAD would disappear and North West Europe (the maritime bits) would see Siberian temperatures. I'm not sure if reduction of the NAD would reverse the melting of the Arctic Ice Cap....if it did, that would remove the flooding risk from the predicted rising sea levels.

What sort of record did it reach? How long have records been kept? We worry about lower winter temperatures in the UK, then draw on the classic Victorian winter scene with ice skating on the Thames for our Christmas cards...sometimes it's just part of a shorter period cycle.

The Gulf Stream is certainly always touted as an important influence on our weather here in NL, because it is warmer than the rest of ocean waters, but the specific temperature is not cited, just the general movement of warmth from S to N.

I sincerely doubt that the gulf oil spill could have any influence on the GS temperature. The usual concern cited is that polar melting could affect the GS, rather than the reverse, but there's no real evidence that this is the case, it is speculation based on ice core data about distant past events.

We sure did have a once in a lifetime fantastic summer this year. Very sunny and warm for months on end. I hear it's been a record breaking year throughout the north atlantic states as well. All the ocean temps are up as a result of the great weather. 2012 will be remembered as a hot one, in most of North America.

Oddly, there has been nothing different about our weather in Florida.

Sunny, with highs at about 90°F each day with a few days reaching 96°F. Exactly as it was last year.

Our weather is opposite of last year's cold wet spring and dreary summer, maybe affected by the big hunk of Greenland ice sitting off the coast. This year we had mainly sunny weather from March until September, temps of 24C with humidex of 30C or more for two full months instead of the usual two weeks (in a good year!) and now getting a little rain maybe once a week to bring the mushrooms up, but still most days above 20 C and sunny.

We prefer C to F, since it keeps us from comparing too closely with temps down south. Any day above 20 C is seriously summer, for us.

Yeah, rumor has it that when the temperature hits 5°-8°C you guys are out there in shorts and the barby!

Sure... just not in July! Okay, sometimes in July.

Actually, the term "double digits" carries a lot of weight, anything over 9.5 C is downright respectable, and no complaints.

Back on the topic, I see there are only 33 years of records for polar ice. The weather records are short enough, but that's ridiculous... when exactly did we become civilized.... _{are we not so civilized yet...}

Funny, our summer's been horrid...hot dry spring followed by overly wet summer. This was blamed on the Jet Stream (the aerial equivalent of the GS) getting "stuck" too far south....

The Jet Stream is extremely mobile and changes position dramatically, whereas the Gulf Stream is much more consistent in its track.

It's a fact, though, that when your weather is horrid, ours is generally quite good.

Yeah - that's due to the Jet Stream and which air flows get pushed where by it. It was very southerly this year, so we got a lot of north winds, off the ol' polar ice cap and a bunch of storms from North America. I guess you get to keep the storms of the Jet Stream is more northerly, when we get a series of high pressure systems from the Azores.

The UK have the same attitude to temperatures as you...although we have a tendancy to use F when it gets hot - 85F sounding more impressive than 29°C!!