Abstract
Atlantic Canada is situated in a very diverse environmental area along the east coast of Canada, spanning almost 20 degrees of latitude and 20 degrees of longitude. The climate of the region is varied, encompassing both coastal and continental regimes and influenced by several major ocean currents and mountain ranges.
This study examines changes in temperature across Atlantic Canada over the last 100 years with the goals of advancing the understanding of the climate variability and change occurring in Atlantic Canada as well as furthering the knowledge of the smaller scale climate regimes across the region. Of particular significance is a documented cooling trend, based upon monthly temperature data, over eastern portions of Newfoundland. This trend is consistent with global climate model results which suggest cooling of temperatures in eastern Newfoundland and the Labrador Sea over the next century, a very unique feature in the northern hemisphere.
Preliminary work in a focused examination of temperature trends in Atlantic Canada has been completed and was presented at the 11th Symposium on Global Change Studies. The results were based on homogonized monthly temperature data.
This study augments that existing regional work through the analysis of one hundred years of homogonized daily mean, maximum and minimum temperature data for 29 stations from the Historical Canadian Climate Database. The seasonality of various trends and the differences between coastal and inland localities are examined. A statistical analysis is applied to determine significant local, provincial and regional temperature trends This study will be part of a larger national study of historical daily temperature trends.
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