The Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence: oceanographic evolution and climate change adaptation issues
Speaker(s)
Description (webinar 1)
This webinar presents a regional 3-dimensionnal numerical model is used to look at the future oceanographic conditions of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Past and future trends in the Gulf of St. Lawrence physical and biogeochemical oceanographic conditions
With Peter Galbraith, Nicolas Lambert and Diane Lavoie (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Summary
Important changes have been observed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in recent decades, such as warming, deoxygenation and acidification (e.g. decreasing pH). These trends are expected to continue in the future, impacting the health of different marine species found in the gulf.
A regional 3-dimensionnal numerical model is used to look at the future oceanographic conditions of that region under the RCP 8.5 scenario but using different Earth System Models output as forcing.
Description (webinar 2)
This webinar will present the results of a literature review on the marine park’s adaptation to climate change, summarizing the conclusions of the most recent publications in order to assess the vulnerability of species and anticipate population changes in the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord.
Literature review on adaptation to climate change in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park
With Benjamin Labbé (Université Laval)
Summary
As our land and the people who live on it are already experiencing the effects of climate change, it is essential to understand the potential impacts of these phenomena and to guard against them at sites whose purpose is to protect sensitive and important ecosystems for our communities. The Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park wishes to have a prospective assessment of future changes in order to implement effective preventive measures.
This webinar will present the results of a literature review on the marine park’s adaptation to climate change, summarizing the conclusions of the most recent publications in order to assess the vulnerability of species and anticipate population changes in the St. Lawrence Estuary and the Saguenay Fjord.
It consists of a three-month project to assemble the current knowledge in order to support an integrated approach to taking climate change into account in the management of the marine park. This mandate carried out by Benjamin Labbé was co-supervised by Raphaëlle Dancette (Parks Canada) and Ursule Boyer-Villemaire (Ouranos).
