On June 26, 2019, the Climate Risks for Coastal Transportation Infrastructure Community of Practice (CRCTI CoP) and the Canadian Coastal Resilience Forum (CCRF) conducted a webinar titled “Canada’s Changing Climate Report: Changes in the Oceans Surrounding Canada” presented by Blair Greenan, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Thomas James, Natural Resources Canada This webinar summarized the observed and projected changes for the oceans surrounding Canada that are being driven by anthropogenic climate change. The results were drawn from the recent “Canada’s Changing Climate Report”. The presentation focused on changes in sea level and coastal flooding impacting coastal communities and infrastructure. The presentation also included some results from the 2016 report on “Canada’s Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate”, a contribution to the ongoing series of reports for the National Assessment Canada in a Changing Climate. Blair Greenan is a research scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and is based at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax. He manages a diverse group of researchers that focus on ocean stressors ranging from marine oil spills to climate change effects such as ocean acidification. He is the Scientific Director for the Argo Canada program which contributes to the International Argo program in advancing global real-time observations of the ocean with autonomous instruments. Recently, Blair’s research has focused on developing climate change adaptation tools to provide science advice to DFO on issues related to coastal infrastructure and fisheries management. Blair received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto. Thomas James is a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada, Department of Natural Resources Canada. His undergraduate studies were at Queen’s University and he carried out his Ph.D. research at Princeton University, finishing in 1991. Tom’s research interests are in geodynamics, and specifically in understanding the interactions between the solid Earth, ice sheets and glaciers, and the oceans. He has carried out field work in British Columbia, Nunavut, and Antarctica to measure land motion and sea-level change. Recently, Tom generated sea-level projections across Canada for a volume called “Canada’s Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate”, based on the most recent assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

1. A collaborative effort:
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Natural Resources Canada
University experts
Wearable technology, developed with funding
from the NSERC Discovery Grants program
Source: Western University
Chapter 7: Changes in Oceans Surrounding Canada

2. Chapter 7 Authors
2
• Blair J. W. Greenan (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Thomas S. James (Natural Resources Canada)
• John W. Loder (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Pierre Pepin (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Kumiko Azetsu-Scott (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Debby Ianson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Roberta C. Hamme (University of Victoria)
• Denis Gilbert (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Jean-Éric Tremblay (Université Laval)
• Xiaolan L. Wang (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• Will Perrie (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
• Acknowledgments (DFO): Jim Christian, Eugene Colbourne, Peter Galbraith, Phil Greyson, Guoqi Han, Dave
Hebert, Roger Pettipas, Marie Robert, Tetjana Ross, Nadja Steiner, Igor Yashayaev and Li Zhai

3. Canada’s National Assessment on Climate Change
Canada in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action
Interactive Website
(ChangingClimate.ca/CCCR2019)
Health Assessment
Canada’s
Changing Climate
Report
Canada in a Changing
Climate - Regional
Perspectives
Enhanced
SynthesisCanada in a Changing
Climate- National
Issues
Phase 1:
2016-2018
Phase 2: 2017-2021
Phase 3:
2020-2021
Indigenous Resilience
Laying a climate science foundation for the forthcoming reports of the national assessment.
3

4. Canada’s Changing Climate Report –
scope and structure
Chapter 4
Changes in
Temperature and
Precipitation
Chapter 5
Changes in Snow,
Ice and
Permafrost
Chapter 6
Changes in
Freshwater
Availability
Chapter 7
Changes in
Oceans
Surrounding
Canada
Chapter 8
Changes in Canada’s Regions in a
National and Global Context
Chapter 3
Modelling Future
Climate Change
Chapter 2
Observed Global
Climate Change
Chapter 1
About this Report
10 HEADLINE STATEMENTS FOR THE WHOLE REPORT
KEY MESSAGES FOR EACH MAJOR CHAPTER
Assessed confidence in findings and likelihood of results
4

5. • Canada has warmed by 1.7⁰C between 1948 and 2016, about two
times global warming.
• Northern Canada has warmed by 2.3 ⁰C, about three times global
warming.
• The observed warming is primarily due to human activities and is
effectively irreversible.
Mean annual temperature increase
1948-2016
5

6. - more extreme heat/less extreme cold
- less snow and ice cover
- thinning glaciers
- warmer and more acidic oceans
- increased precipitation
- earlier spring peak streamflow
- thawing permafrost
- rising sea level
6
• Because some further warming is unavoidable, these observed trends will continue.
• Across Canada, we are experiencing:

7. • Scenarios with large and rapid warming illustrate the profound effects on Canadian climate of
continued growth in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Scenarios with limited warming require Canada and the rest of the world to reduce carbon
emissions to near zero early in the second half of the century.
High global
emissions
large warming
Low global
emissions
limited warming
The rate and magnitude of climate change under high versus low
emission scenarios project two very different futures for Canada.
7

8. Oceans Surrounding Canada
8

9. 9
• Ocean warming and loss of oxygen will intensify with further
emissions of all greenhouse gases.
• Ocean acidification will increase in response to additional
carbon dioxide emissions.
• These changes threaten the health of marine ecosystems.

10. Ocean Temperature Trends
10
Pacific
Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean

11. Ocean Temperature Projections
11

12. Ocean Salinity and Density Stratification
12
• Reference period for anomaly: 1981-2010

13. Ocean Salinity and Density Stratification
13

14. Marine Winds, Storms and Waves
• Surface wave heights and the duration of the wave season in the Canadian Arctic have
increased since 1970 and are projected to continue to increase over this century as sea ice
declines (high confidence).
• Off Canada’s east coast, areas that currently have seasonal sea ice are also anticipated to
experience increased wave activity in the future, as seasonal ice duration decreases (medium
confidence).
• A slight northward shift of storm tracks, with decreased wind speed and lower wave heights
off Atlantic Canada, has been observed and is projected to continue in future (low
confidence).
• Off the Pacific coast of Canada, wave heights have been observed to increase in winter and
decrease in summer, and these trends are projected to continue in future (low confidence).
14

15. Ocean Acidification
15

16. Ocean Deoxygenation
16

17. Ocean Deoxygenation
17

18. 18
• Local sea level is projected to rise and increase flooding, along
most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Canada and the
Beaufort coast in the Arctic.
• The loss of sea ice in Arctic and Atlantic Canada further
increases the risk of damage to coastal infrastructure and
ecosystem due to larger storm surges and waves.
Local sea level changes are from
global sea level rise and land uplift
and sinking. The vertical land
motion is a response to the retreat of
the last great ice sheet.

19. Canada’s Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate
§ Led by the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
Division to produce a National Coastal Assessment:
Lemmen, D.S., Warren, F.J., James, T.S. and Mercer Clarke,
C.S.L. editors (2016): Canada’s Marine Coasts in a Changing
Climate; Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON, 274p.
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/environment/resources/
publications/impacts-
adaptation/reports/assessments/2016/18388

20. 20
Examples of Coastal Flooding and Damage
LEFT – Storm surge on the Sunshine Coast Highway
(Highway 101) at Davis Bay, British Columbia, located
on the mainland coast nor th of Vancouver, British Columbia,
on F ebruary 6, 2006. Photo courtesy of B. Oakford.
RIGHT — Example of coastal erosion and roadway damage
at Conrads Road on Queensland Beach, Nova Scotia, following
the January 4, 2018, blizzard.
Photo credit: Colleen Jones, CBC, January 5, 2018.

21. 21
Long-Term Trends of Relative Sea-Level Change

22. 22
• A major determinant of sea-level
change in Canada is vertical land
motion.
• Oceanographic factors also affect
the absolute elevation of the sea
surface.
• Land subsidence (sinking)
increases relative (local) sea-level,
while land uplift does the opposite.
• Across much of Canada, land
uplift or subsidence is mainly due to
the delayed effects of the last
continental glaciation (ice age),
called glacial isostatic adjustment
(GIA).
Crustal Uplift and Subsidence

23. 23
Projected Global Sea-Level Rise During the 21st Century
• Global (absolute) mean sea level is
projected, in IPCC AR5, to rise by
28 to 98 cm by 2100, relative to
1986–2005
• But global mean sea-level rise
could exceed 1 m by 2100 if
additional contributions of water
come from the marine-based
sectors of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

24. 24
• A major determinant of
sea-level change in
Canada is vertical land
motion.
•Land subsidence (sinking)
increases relative (local)
sea-level, while land uplift
does the opposite.
Crustal Uplift and Subsidence

25. 25
• End-of-century projected relative
(local) sea-level change under a
high emission scenario, relative to
1986-2005 reference period
• Global mean sea level is projected
to rise, but along Canada’s
coastlines, sea level will rise in some
places, fall elsewhere.
• Much of Hudson Bay and the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago are
projected to experience
continuing sea-level fall, while the
rest of Canada is projected to
experience sea-level rise.
Relative Sea-Level Change in Canada

26. 26
• Projected relative (local) sea-level change
through the century, relative to 1986-2005
reference period, for four different locations
with different amounts of vertical land motion.
• Relative sea level will rise in some places, fall
elsewhere.
• Green triangle shows the projection for the
enhanced scenario with additional sea-level
rise from Antarctica
• Sea-level projections are similar through to
about 2050 or 2060.
Relative Sea-Level Change
in Canada

27. What do we Know for Sure?
Impacts of changes in sea level will increase
throughout this century and beyond
KEY FINDINGS
§ Global sea level will continue to rise
past 2100.
§ With a high emission scenario, sea
level rise could reach many metres
in a few hundred years.
§ Low emission scenario would limit
the rise to 1 metre.
James et al., 2014; after Church et al., 2013

28. What are other countries doing?
Most follow IPCC AR5
A few countries have a high-
end scenario (Canada, NZ,
Singapore)
US approach differs strongly
from other countries.

29. What is the largest value?
Garner et al., 2018
Shows all publications, including those superseded or given low confidence.
2.6 m at 2100 is the largest amount cited.

30. 30
Extreme Water Levels
• Hourly water levels recorded at Halifax
Harbour for 1920 to 2018, with 5%
extremes shown in dark blue and the 90%
mid-range in light blue.
• Mean sea level (thick blue line) exhibits
short-term variability superposed on a
long-term increase throughout the record
duration.
• The table shows that the frequency of
high-water level events has increased
with the rise in sea level over the
decades.
Decade 1920-1929
1930-
1939 1940-1949
1950-
1959
1960-
1969
1970-
1979
1980-
1989
1990-
1999
2000-
2009
2010-
2017 sum
Number of events (>2.3m) 1 3 4 5 10 15 11 12 24 46 131
Number of events (>2.2m) 3 8 16 15 32 33 31 31 46 76 291
Number of events (>2.1m) 14 16 32 39 64 72 73 70 86 130 596
Number of events (>2.0m) 39 44 78 80 121 126 134 149 154 186 1111

31. Halifax Tide Gauge Record
Key Findings
With 40 cm of sea level rise at
Halifax, a one-in-50 year extreme
water-level event would occur
about every 2 years.
Atkinson et al., 2016, after Forbes et al., 2009

32. Summary (Sea level)
32
• Sea-level projections are robust through about 2050 or 2060 and they don’t strongly
depend on scenario.
• Intermediate and high-emission scenarios lead to metres of sea-level rise over
centuries.
• Sea-level projections at intermediate times are uncertain and there is a low-
probability, high-impact potential for large amounts of sea-level rise (> 1m at 2100),
but the largest projections for 2100 are around 2.5 m and recent scientific results
point to smaller values.

33. Summary (CCCR)
33
• There is strong evidence of human-induced changes during the past century in key ocean-climate properties —
such as temperature, sea ice, sea level, acidity, and dissolved oxygen — off Canada.
• Warmer ocean temperature has contributed to declining sea ice and increasing sea level. However, there is an area
south of Greenland where there has been little ocean warming, so regional trends do differ.
• In general, warming and freshening at the ocean surface is projected during this century, which will continue to
increase stratification and reduced sea ice.
• Ocean acidification and decreasing subsurface oxygen levels will continue, with increasingly adverse implications
for marine ecosystems.
• Where relative sea level is projected to rise (most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Beaufort coast in the
Arctic), the frequency and magnitude of extreme high water-level events will increase, leading to increased
flooding.
• Declining sea-ice cover is projected to lead to increased wave action and larger storm surges, causing larger and
more frequent extreme high water-level events along Canada’s Arctic and Atlantic coasts.
• The impacts of climate change (warming waters, ocean acidification, sea-level rise) depend on the pathway of
carbon emissions. Strong mitigation of carbon emissions will minimize future effects of climate change.

34. http://www.changingclimate.ca/CCCR2019
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/environment/impacts-adaptation/21177
Blair Greenan: Blair.Greenan@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Thomas James: Thomas.James@Canada.ca
Thank you! Questions?