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

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Map: Spring sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion

Description for Map

The title of this map is “Spring 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 spring surface temperature change of Canada’s oceans in the spring season.

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 spring sea surface temperature generally increased for most areas of the East Coast, Western Arctic, Northern Shelf and Offshore Pacific, but decreased in Hudson Bay, Southern Shelf and Strait of Georgia. The Scotian Shelf experienced the greatest increase in temperature 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. Spring data are from April to June.

Sources:
ni, 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).


Legend
Marine ecoregion labels
Table summary
This table displays the results of Marine ecoregion labels. The information is grouped by Label (appearing as row headers), Marine ecoregion (appearing as column headers).
Label Marine ecoregion
1 Strait of Georgia
2 Southern Shelf
3 Offshore Pacific
4 Northern Shelf
5 Arctic Basin
6 Western Arctic
7 Arctic Archipelago
8 Eastern Arctic
9 Hudson Bay Complex
10 Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves
11 Scotian Shelf
12 Gulf of St. Lawrence

Legend
Sea surface temperature
Table summary
This table displays the results of Sea surface temperature. The information is grouped by Category (appearing as row headers), (appearing as column headers).
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

Data
Spring sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal, by depth class, marine ecoregion and season
Table summary
This table displays the results of Spring sea surface temperature departures (2005 to 2017) from the climate normal. The information is grouped by Marine ecoregion and depth class (appearing as row headers), Temperature departure, calculated using °C units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Marine ecoregion and depth class Temperature departure
°C
Strait of Georgia
Coastal -0.44
Epipelagic -0.44
Mesopelagic -0.46
Bathypelagic -0.32
Southern Shelf
Coastal -0.10
Epipelagic -0.11
Mesopelagic -0.10
Bathypelagic -0.13
Offshore Pacific
Coastal 0.09
Epipelagic 0.09
Mesopelagic 0.08
Bathypelagic 0.03
Northern Shelf
Coastal 0.14
Epipelagic 0.21
Mesopelagic 0.14
Bathypelagic -0.02
Arctic Basin
Coastal -0.01
Epipelagic 0.09
Mesopelagic 0.09
Bathypelagic 0.05
Western Arctic
Coastal 0.08
Epipelagic 0.19
Mesopelagic 0.37
Arctic Archipelago
Coastal 0.00
Epipelagic 0.01
Mesopelagic 0.01
Eastern Arctic
Coastal 0.03
Epipelagic 0.08
Mesopelagic 0.06
Bathypelagic -0.07
Hudson Bay Complex
Coastal -0.08
Epipelagic -0.05
Mesopelagic -0.05
Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves
Coastal 0.14
Epipelagic 0.19
Mesopelagic 0.04
Bathypelagic 0.15
Abyssalpelagic 0.24
Scotian Shelf
Coastal 0.56
Epipelagic 0.64
Mesopelagic 0.79
Bathypelagic 1.33
Abyssalpelagic 0.90
Gulf of St. Lawrence
Coastal -0.14
Epipelagic 0.11
Mesopelagic 0.26
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