Climate Change Impacts for the Arctic Ocean Tool (CIAO Tool)

Description

Compared to past decades (before 1980), the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere are transitioning to a more dynamic state. Projections of ice-free Arctic Ocean summers by the mid-21^st century may actually underestimate the rate of change. This project will develop and deliver an interactive, web-based planning tool, associated datasets and high-resolution maps as a way to present the results of CIAO—Climate Change Impacts for the Arctic Ocean—a related ACCASP project that will estimate indicators of climate change on a basin scale for the Arctic Ocean.

By providing the results of CIAO in a usable, accessible format, stakeholders and managers—particularly in Arctic locations—will be able to estimate the impacts of present (1970-1999) and future climate change (2014-2100) on ocean temperature, currents, salinity, light availability and other factors that are relevant to ecosystem dynamics and models, and the associated planning process for modelling the Arctic ecosystem ^{Footnote 1} . The project will also provide technical documentation and training for fisheries management personnel, as well as peer-reviewed reports and papers to provide a solid science foundation.

Program Name

Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program (ACCASP)

Year(s)

2014 - 2016

Ecoregion(s)

Arctic: Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Principal Investigator(s)

William Perrie
DFO, Maritimes Region
Tel.: (902) 426-3985
Email: william.perrie@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Steven Newton
DFO, Central and Arctic Region
Tel.: (204) 984-5561
Email: steve.newton@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Team Member(s)

John N. Smith, DFO, Maritimes, BIO, Dartmouth, NS

Youyu Lu, DFO, Maritimes, BIO, Dartmouth, NS

Zhenxia Long, DFO, Maritimes, BIO, Dartmouth, NS

Ellen Kenchington, DFO, Maritimes, BIO, Dartmouth, NS

Margaret Treble, DFO, Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, MN

Nadja Steiner, DFO, Pacific, IOS, Sidney, BC

Chelsea Smith, DFO, Maritimes, BIO, Dartmouth, NS

Jim Reist, DFO, Central and Arctic, Winnipeg, MN

Andrew Majewski, DFO, Central and Arctic, Winnipeg, MN

Bill Smethie Jr., Lamont-Doherty Observatory at Columbia University

Michael Karcher, Senior Scientist with AVI, Bremerhaven, Germany

D. Atkinson, University of Victoria

Collaborating Government Department(s)

NSERC (funding)

Environment Canada

Collaborative Partner(s)

Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP)

Pan-Arctic Climate Investigation (PACI)

University of Ottawa

CONCEPTS (Canadian Operational Network of Couples Environmental Prediction Systems)

PERD (Panel on Energy Research and Development)

Collaborative International Partner(s)

Joint Ocean Ice Study (US and Japanese scientists)

Columbia University

AVI (Germany)

University of Victoria