New PCIC Science Brief: A Model Simulation of Future Oceanic Conditions Along the British Columbia Continental Shelf

PCIC is pleased to announce the release of our next Science Brief. PCIC Science Briefs are a regular series of brief reports on recent climate science literature, relevant to stakeholders in the Pacific and Yukon Region of Canada. PCIC has developed these briefs because we recognize the need for a bridge between the cutting edge of climate science research and the various stakeholders who need access to this knowledge, in plain-language reports, filtered for regional relevance, and suitable for consideration in planning and adaptation. The PCIC Science Briefs contextualize and explain the results and implications of important scientific findings.
 
This Science Brief covers two papers in the journal Atmosphere-Ocean, on future ocean conditions for British Columbia’s continental shelf. Using an ocean circulation model for the shelf, the authors compare projections for the 2065-2078 period to values for 1995-2008. The authors find that surface temperatures may increase by 0.5 to 2.0 °C, seasonal surface salinity may drop by up to 2 on the Practical Salinity Scale in some areas, and that Haida Eddies will strengthen, as will the Vancouver Island Coastal Current and freshwater discharges into coastal waters.  
 
Read this Science Brief. 

Foreman, M.G.G., W. Callendar, D. Masson, J. Morrison, and I. Fine, 2014: A model simulation of future oceanic conditions along the British Columbia continental shelf, Part II: Results and analyses. Atmosphere-Ocean, 52, 1, 20-38, doi:10.1080/07055900;2013.873014.

Morrison, J., W. Callendar, M.G.G. Foreman, D. Masson, and I. Fine, 2014: A model simulation of future oceanic conditions along the British Columbia continental shelf. Part I: Forcing fields and initial conditions. Atmosphere-Ocean, 52, 1, 1-19, doi:10.1080/07055900.2013.868340