One ocean current beats every river

The Florida Current carries about thirty million cubic metres of water a second. All the rivers on Earth, together, carry about one million.

A sverdrup is a million cubic metres a second. Global river discharge to the ocean is a little over one sverdrup. The Florida Current, the confined beginning of the Gulf Stream between Florida and the Bahamas, is measured at about thirty. Farther north the Gulf Stream is broader and, for a stretch, stronger, because water joins it. Then it weakens as it spreads. The thirtyfold comparison belongs to the straits, where the current is a single hose and the number is watched by cable and by ship.

The water is warm, and the heat it carries is a large part of why western Europe is milder than its latitude. The claim here is the volume, not the climate. Standing on a beach you cannot see thirty Amazons go by. The surface is only the lid. The current is a kilometre deep.