Environmental Thematic Maps and Graphics:
Annual sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion

The title of this map is “Annual sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion.” This map provides a visual representation of the average annual sea surface temperature change of Canada’s oceans.

On the page, there are three maps and two legends to the upper left and right. The first map (top) displays all of Canada. The second map (left) displays the West Coast, and the third map (right) displays the East Coast. On the maps there are small numbers corresponding to marine ecoregions.

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 first legend (left) lists the map labels and corresponding marine ecoregions. The second legend (right) contains nine temperature categories in degrees Celsius (°C): <-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 sea surface temperature increased on the East Coast, across the Arctic, Northern Shelf and Offshore Pacific but decreased in the Hudson Bay Complex, Strait of Georgia and coastal Southern Shelf. The Scotian Shelf, experienced the greatest increase in temperature, and the areas experiencing the greatest decrease in temperature are in Hudson Bay and Strait of Georgia.

Notes: The climate normal is the three-decade average of climatological variables from 1981 to 2010.

Sources:
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).