About

The Gulf of Maine Council’s Climate Network provides current climate-related science, adaptation guidance and impact information to communities in the Gulf of Maine watershed. Its leaders bring diverse skills and perspectives from Canadian federal and provincial agencies, US federal and state agencies, academic institutions, tribes, natural resource industries and non-governmental groups. The Network collaborates with climate-related groups and decision-makers throughout the region.

Goals of the Climate Network:

• Provide climate information concerning the Gulf of Maine watershed to those working for and with the Gulf of Maine Council;
• Coordinate climate-related, bi-lateral projects within the Gulf of Maine watershed, including those that involve community resilience, information delivery and outreach;
• Provide a bi-lateral discussion forum for topics linked to climate variability and change;
• Raise awareness of emerging issues related to climate and its impacts on the Gulf of Maine; and
• Coordinate with Northeast Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers’ efforts on climate-related issues.

The Climate Network of the Gulf of Maine Council is grateful to the following funders for support of its work:

Environment Canada—Atlantic Ecosystems Initiative

Environment Canada—Health of the Oceans

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Network also relies on in-kind support from many partner organizations and agencies, including those listed below whose staff members are represented on the CN steering committee.

Co-Chairs:

• Bill Appleby, Environment Canada, bill.appleby@ec.gc.ca
• Ellen Mecray, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ellen.l.mecray@noaa.gov

Steering Committee:

• Kathy Baskin, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, kathleen.baskin@state.ma.us
• Martin Boulerice, New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government/Climate Change Secretariat, martin.boulerice@gnb.ca
• Adam Fenech, University of Prince Edward Island (Climate Research Lab), afenech@upei.ca
• Sherry Godlewski, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, sherry.godlewski@des.nh.gov
• Elizabeth Hertz, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, elizabeth.hertz@maine.gov
• Jeff Hoyt, New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government/Adaptation, jeff.hoyt@gnb.ca
• Jennifer Graham, Nova Scotia Environment, grahamja@gov.ns.ca
• Andrew Milliken, USFWS North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative, andrew_milliken@fws.gov
• Cara Patton, Environment Canada, cara.patton@ec.gc.ca
• Andrew Pershing, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, apershing@gmri.org
• Vandana Rao, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, vandana.rao@state.ma.us
• Christine Tilburg, Gulf of Maine Council ESIP Program, ctilburg@securespeed.us

• Precipitation from extreme events in the GOM region has increased 74 percent since 1958 (NOAA).
• Extreme weather already poses economic and ecological challenges, and these events are expected to grow more frequent in coming decades, with precipitation increasing 5-9 percent (IPCC 2013).

Credit: Sherry Godlewski

• By 2050, climate scientists project a more rapid increase of 2.5 to 3.5°C (4.5 to 6.3° F) in regional air temperature (IPCC 2013).
• Temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have risen much more in recent decades than many other coastal waters around the world, and a 2012 “heat wave” in sea surface temperatures had damaging economic impacts.

Projected Temperature Changes in the Gulf of Maine Region by the 2050s (°C.), reflecting the most recent IPCC models (Credit: Adam Fenech, UPEI Climate Lab)

What’s Climate Change and What’s Just the Weather?

This one-minute animation by Ole Christoffer Haga, produced by Teddy TV for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, clearly and humorously illustrates the difference between long-term climate trends and variable weather patterns.