Environmental Thematic Maps and Graphics:
Sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion and season
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Description for Map
The title of this map is “Sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion and season.” This map provides a visual representation of the average annual and seasonal sea surface temperature change that occurred in Canada’s oceans.
On the page, there are five maps and a legend to the upper left. The first map (top right) displays average annual surface temperature change, the second map (middle left) displays average spring surface temperature change, the third map (middle right) displays average summer surface temperature change, the fourth map (bottom left) displays average fall surface temperature change and the fifth map (bottom right) displays average winter surface temperature change.
The maps show the change in sea surface temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) by marine ecoregion in different shades of blue, yellow, orange and red. The legend includes nine categories: ≤-0.5 (navy blue), -0.5 to -0.25 (dark blue), -0.25 to -0.1 (light blue), -0.1 to 0 (aqua), 0 to 0.1 (pale yellow), 0.1 to 0.25 (yellow), 0.25 to 0.5 (pale orange), 0.5 to 1 (orange), >1 (red). The legend contains three boundary categories: fine dashed lines indicate provincial boundaries, fine black lines indicate marine ecoregion boundaries and fine grey lines indicate marine depth classes.
The maps show that compared to the 1981 to 2010 climate normal, the 2005 to 2017 average annual and seasonal sea surface temperature generally increased across the Arctic (except for the winter season), Offshore Pacific marine ecoregion and the East Coast, and decreased in Hudson Bay. The Scotian Shelf experienced the greatest increase in temperature, while the Hudson Bay Complex and the Strait of Georgia experienced the greatest decrease in temperature.
Notes: The climate normal is the three-decade average of climatological variables from 1981 to 2010.Winter data are from January to March with other seasons following sequentially.
Source:
Locarnini, R. A., et al., 2018, World Ocean Atlas 2018: Volume 1: Temperature, A. Mishonov (Technical Ed.), NOAA Atlas NESDIS 81, 52 pp., https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/SELECT/woaselect/woaselect.html (accessed November 15, 2019).
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Temperature change (°C) | Colour |
| ≥ 1 | Red |
| 0.5 to < 1 | Orange |
| 0.25 to < 0.5 | Pale orange |
| 0.1 to < 0.25 | Yellow |
| 0 to < 0.1 | Pale yellow |
| -0.1 to < 0 | Aqua |
| -0.25 to < -0.1 | Light blue |
| -0.5 to < -0.25 | Dark blue |
| < -0.5 | Navy blue |
| Boundaries | Shape |
| Province/territory | Dashed line |
| Marine ecoregion | Black outline |
| Depth class | Grey outline |
| Marine ecoregion and depth class | Temperature departure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | |
| °C | |||||
| Strait of Georgia | |||||
| Coastal | -0.18 | -0.44 | 0.15 | -0.09 | -0.32 |
| Epipelagic | -0.17 | -0.44 | 0.16 | -0.10 | -0.32 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.17 | -0.46 | 0.19 | -0.11 | -0.31 |
| Bathypelagic | -0.16 | -0.32 | 0.17 | -0.10 | -0.40 |
| Southern Shelf | |||||
| Coastal | -0.06 | -0.10 | 0.08 | 0.00 | -0.24 |
| Epipelagic | -0.08 | -0.11 | 0.12 | -0.07 | -0.26 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.01 | -0.10 | 0.14 | 0.08 | -0.17 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.02 | -0.13 | 0.19 | 0.15 | -0.12 |
| Offshore Pacific | |||||
| Coastal | 0.06 | 0.09 | 0.29 | 0.03 | -0.18 |
| Epipelagic | 0.06 | 0.09 | 0.29 | 0.03 | -0.18 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.06 | 0.08 | 0.25 | 0.05 | -0.13 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.11 | 0.03 | 0.25 | 0.14 | 0.02 |
| Northern Shelf | |||||
| Coastal | 0.09 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 0.00 | 0.13 |
| Epipelagic | 0.08 | 0.21 | -0.02 | -0.01 | 0.13 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.05 | 0.14 | 0.00 | -0.01 | 0.09 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.07 | -0.02 | 0.22 | 0.11 | -0.03 |
| Arctic Basin | |||||
| Coastal | -0.02 | -0.01 | -0.12 | 0.00 | 0.02 |
| Epipelagic | 0.04 | 0.09 | -0.03 | 0.04 | 0.04 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.04 | 0.09 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.05 | -0.01 |
| Western Arctic | |||||
| Coastal | 0.07 | 0.08 | 0.18 | 0.01 | -0.01 |
| Epipelagic | 0.15 | 0.19 | 0.40 | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.21 | 0.37 | 0.48 | -0.01 | 0.00 |
| Arctic Archipelago | |||||
| Coastal | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| Epipelagic | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.00 | 0.01 | -0.01 | 0.00 | 0.03 |
| Eastern Arctic | |||||
| Coastal | 0.12 | 0.03 | 0.41 | 0.00 | -0.03 |
| Epipelagic | 0.12 | 0.08 | 0.38 | 0.02 | -0.04 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.08 | 0.06 | 0.31 | 0.04 | 0.00 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.10 | -0.07 | 0.54 | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| Hudson Bay Complex | |||||
| Coastal | -0.11 | -0.08 | -0.35 | -0.01 | 0.01 |
| Epipelagic | -0.16 | -0.05 | -0.45 | -0.13 | -0.03 |
| Mesopelagic | -0.12 | -0.05 | -0.13 | -0.31 | 0.05 |
| Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves | |||||
| Coastal | 0.40 | 0.14 | 0.74 | 0.50 | 0.22 |
| Epipelagic | 0.40 | 0.19 | 0.49 | 0.40 | 0.49 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.33 | 0.04 | 0.63 | 0.37 | 0.28 |
| Bathypelagic | 0.44 | 0.15 | 0.56 | 0.46 | 0.66 |
| Abyssalpelagic | 0.89 | 0.24 | 0.25 | 1.34 | 1.72 |
| Scotian Shelf | |||||
| Coastal | 0.61 | 0.56 | 0.60 | 1.02 | 0.27 |
| Epipelagic | 0.76 | 0.64 | 0.79 | 1.17 | 0.44 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.84 | 0.79 | 0.85 | 1.22 | 0.49 |
| Bathypelagic | 1.31 | 1.33 | 1.14 | 1.53 | 1.11 |
| Abyssalpelagic | 1.22 | 0.90 | 0.53 | 0.72 | 1.92 |
| Gulf of St. Lawrence | |||||
| Coastal | 0.26 | -0.14 | 0.68 | 0.77 | -0.26 |
| Epipelagic | 0.27 | 0.11 | 0.88 | 0.36 | -0.25 |
| Mesopelagic | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.84 | 0.13 | -0.15 |
| Note: Areas classed as coastal have a maximum depth of 50 m, the epipelagic class has depths from 50 m to 200 m, the mesopelagic class has depths from 200 m to 1,000 m, the bathypelagic class has depths of 1 km to 4 km and the abyssalpelagic class includes all areas with depths of more than 4 km. | |||||
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