On June 11, 2007, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment’s Climate Change Network and Environment Canada hosted a one-day event at the Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The event was intended to connect people and organizations and to disseminate important information to them in an organized and cohesive manner. It preceded a quarterly meeting of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Working Group at the same location.
The event featured presentations by experts on aspects of climate change in the Gulf of Maine region. A major goal of the event was to facilitate networking among individuals and groups interested in the sustainability of the Gulf of Maine and to foster partnerships and strategic alliances.
The event was initiated as a way to promote interaction among people working on ecosystem indicators and people working on climate change impacts in the Gulf of Maine. Following an ecosystem indicators workshop held in November 2006 in Wells, Maine, members of the Gulf of Maine Council's Ecosystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) had expressed interest in exploring how climate change will affect ecosystem indicators and the implications for monitoring.
The event opened with a talk by Dave Schellenberg, executive director of the Climate Change and Environmental Services Branch of the province of New Brunswick. He spoke about the province's Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012 (http://www.gnb.ca/0009/0369/0015/0001-e.asp).
The second speaker was Bill Burtis, co-chair of the Climate Change Network and Communications Manager for Clean Air-Cool Planet, a non-government organization based in New England. He provided an overview of the Climate Change Network and the importance of networking to deal with environmental issues such as climate change.
The morning's keynote speaker was Greg Flato of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis within Environment Canada. He gave a review of the most recent IPCC Working Group I Climate Change Report (AR-4) (http://ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/wg1/wg1-report.html), which was released in 2007. The talk was divided into three sections: (1) past changes in greenhouse gases according to proxy indicator data, (2) direct observations of recent climate change caused by human and natural factors, and (3) projections of future changes in climate based on scientific models.
After a coffee break, Tom Huntington, a research hydrologist for the United States Geological Survey, gave a presentation about impacts of climate change on hydrology and implications for the Gulf of Maine watershed. His talk emphasized that understanding the hydrological cycle and possible impacts of climate change on hydrology are important because (1) the Gulf of Maine is a large body of water with many other systems and species relying on its proper functioning, (2) many of the indicators being considered by ESIP relate to the water cycle, and (3) changes in the water cycle affect climate.
Next was a presentation by Gary Lines, head of the Climate Change Section of the Meteorological Service of Canada (within Environment Canada) in the Atlantic Region, about adaptations that may be required in the Gulf of Maine watershed to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Download the presentation* by Gary Lines: Coastal Impacts and Adaptation Issues (PDF, 1.5 MB).
The afternoon session began with a talk by Christine Tilburg, Program Manager for the Gulf of Maine Council’s Ecosystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP). ESIP is developing a set of indicators for the Gulf of Maine within six key focus areas: coastal development, contaminants and pathogens, eutrophication, aquatic habitat, fisheries and aquaculture, and climate change. ESIP is also in the process of integrating regional data for a new Web-based reporting system for marine ecosystem monitoring. The presentation described the purpose of the program and the six indicator groups; Web tools being created and used by the Gulf of Maine Council; and upcoming milestones for ESIP. Workshop participants were asked to suggest people who should be contacted about becoming involved with ESIP.
Download the presentation by Christine Tilburg: Ecosystem Indicator Partnership: Where Are We Going and How Can We Get There? (PDF, 516 KB)
Following the overall presentation about ESIP, Gary Lines made a presentation about ESIP's Climate Change Subcommittee. He provided an update on the group's activities, reviewed the main indicators, and led a discussion about indicators that might be needed in the future.
Download the presentation* by Gary Lines: Climate Change Indicators for the Gulf of Maine (PDF, 897 KB)
The evening featured a presentation by Réal Daigle of R. J. Daigle Enviro. He discussed findings of the Impacts of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change on the Coastal Zone of Southeastern New Brunswick Project (http://atlantic-web1.ns.ec.gc.ca/slr/default.asp?lang=En&n=61BB75EF-11).
Download the presentation* by Réal Daigle: Impacts of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change on the Coastal Zone of Southeastern New Brunswick (PDF, 5.1 MB)
Meeting summary prepared by:
Laura Cullen
Environment Canada Intern
Climate Change Section
Go to Climate Change Network main page
* Those requiring French translations of presentations by representatives of the Government of Canada should contact the speakers directly about the availability of such.