Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program (ACCASP)

The Government of Canada renewed domestic climate change adaptation funding in 2011, with a $148.8 million contribution over five years. This funding will continue and expand federal programs across nine departments and agencies, designed to improve our understanding of climate change and to help Canadians prepare for climate-related impacts. The investment includes a $16.5 million commitment to the Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector of Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the implementation of a five-year aquatic climate change program.

Climate change is a research priority for the Department. DFO’s Climate Change Science Initiative and its achievements in climate science over the past decade led to and will inform the new program. Fourteen DFO scientists were among those recognized for their contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and for their "efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." National Workshop Proceedings/ Client Needs National Workshop Proceedings/ Science Needs The SeaCycler, a sub-surface moored ocean profiler developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada will assist oceanographers studying global climate change. Photo: DFO

The emphasis of the Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program (ACCASP) is on the development of new science knowledge to support the development of adaptation tools and strategies that will enable the integration of climate change considerations into the delivery of the Department’s programs and policies. It has three primary components:

1. Development of a series of Large Aquatic Basin Risk Assessments to identify departmental activities’ key vulnerabilities to climate change;
2. Producing New Knowledge of Climate Change Impacts on Canada’s Oceans and Inland Waters, and;
3. Development of applied science-based Adaptation Tools to enable the mainstreaming of climate change considerations across the Department’s program activities and strategic outcomes.

(Click this link to access a searchable database of all climate change adaptation program research projects).

Three short videos help explain some of the processes that regulate our climate, and how climate change is also bringing change to the oceans. Ocean scientists at Fisheries and Oceans Canada produced the videos to explain the potential impacts of aquatic climate change across Canada and to help viewers understand two complex ocean processes related to climate change; acidification and hypoxia.

• Aquatic Climate Change Video: Ocean scientist Dr. Charles Hannah takes us on a quick virtual tour across Canada to discuss a few of the ways climate change will impact marine and freshwater ecosystems.
• Ocean Acidification Video: Dr. Kumiko Azetsu-Scott studies ocean acidification and explains the price the oceans are paying for absorbing much of the carbon dioxide entering earth's atmosphere.
• Low Oxygen/Marine Hypoxia Video: Dr. Denis Gilbert explains the impacts of marine hypoxia, or low oxygen "dead zones", in marine environments. Some dead zones occur naturally, and others result from human activities. Certain hypoxic areas, including one that occurs on the Pacific continental shelf, are linked to climate change.

For more information on climate change adaptation, please visit the Government of Canada Climate Change portal, which offers general background on this topic.  Departments such as Natural Resources Canada have been active in climate change adaptation work for some time, and have compiled useful links and information for Canadians. There is also information related to climate change adaptation at the provincial and municipal level. Check local websites for more information.

Programs in other federal departments with parallels to the adaptation work at DFO include:

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Environment Canada Health Canada Public Health Agency of Canada Industry Canada (in conjunction with industry groups such as the Standards Council of Canada) Parks Canada Natural Resources Canada, and Transport Canada.

Large Aquatic Basin Risk Assessments

Climate change impacts have the potential to occur at the larger oceanic and continental scale. Consequently, the climate change risk assessments will be conducted on four broader regions, known as the “Large Aquatic Basins”.

The four Large Aquatic Basins are: Northwest Atlantic; Canada’s Central Freshwater Ecosystems (Lake Winnipeg Drainage Basin, and the Great Lakes Basin and St. Lawrence Freshwater Ecosystems); Northeast Pacific, and; Canadian Arctic including Arctic Ocean and Archipelago.

For each of these Large Aquatic Basins, both a science-based risk analysis (focusing on ecosystem and infrastructure impacts) and a socio-economic risk analysis (provided by DFO’s policy sectors) will be conducted.

The risk assessments for each Large Aquatic Basin will focus on priorities in the Department’s Strategic Outcomes.

The table below offers a few examples of risks that sectors within the Department may expect from climate change.

Examples of Climate Change Risks	Department Sectors Impacted
Sea-level rise and storm surges impact safety & infrastructure	Coast Guard, Small Craft Harbours, Oceans Management
Changes in ocean temperature, precipitation & freshwater runoff impact ecosystems	Species at Risk, Habitat, Ecosystem Management
Decrease in O2 & pH, & changes in nutrients impact fisheries	Fisheries Management, Oceans Management

Research and workshops held by DFO and other departments will naturally help inform and guide the current program.

Photos, from top to bottom: Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia / Photo: DFO. Lake Ontario, with Toronto, Ontario in the background / Photo: © Pat Anderson. Transient Killer Whale TO87 in Northumberland Channel, British Columbia / Photo: DFO. Severe storms due to climate change endanger the coastal infrastructure of communities in the Arctic Archipelago, Resolute Bay, Nunavut / Photo: DFO

New Science Knowledge to Support the Development of Climate Change Adaptation Tools 

In addition to the Large Aquatic Basin risk assessments, the Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program is strategically investing in the development of science-based knowledge to inform future climate change adaptation efforts by the Department.

Bull Trout shimmer underwater in a fast-moving tributary of the Sheep River, Alberta. Fish and other aquatic organisms are likely to be affected by the ongoing changes in climate conditions. Photo: Jeremy Stewart

New Knowledge of Climate Change Impacts on Canada’s Oceans and Inland Waters

In the 2012-13 fiscal year, further development of the science and technology knowledge base in three designated priority areas will be pursued: Canada’s North; Marine and Freshwater Infrastructure Impacts; and Marine and Freshwater Ecosystem Impacts.

Projects funded (2012-13)

Severe storms due to climate change, impact infrastructure maintained by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The small craft harbour at Balsam Bay, Manitoba before and after an extreme 'weather bomb' storm. Photos: DFO

Adaptation Tools

Dedicated work to begin the development of applied adaptation tools will also be initiated in 2012-13.  This investment will support the direct application of science
knowledge to establish applied ‘tools’ for immediate use by DFO program areas in the mainstreaming of climate change considerations into decision-making, policy development, and planning. 

Projects funded (2012-13)