Environment and Climate Change Canada

Assess the importance of atmospheric deposition of contaminants as a contributor to ecological impacts of oil sands development and identify sources. • Use snowpack measurements sampled across a gridwork to develop maps of winter-time atmospheric contaminant loadings for the region ~100 km from...

Waterfowl and mammals harvested and trapped at various locations in the oil sands region and in reference locations are assessed for contaminant burdens and toxicology. Wildlife samples are obtained from local hunters and trappers. Tissue samples are analysed for concentrations of oil...

Plant health assessments and vegetation surveys are undertaken at both terrestrial and wetland sites in the oil sands region and in reference areas. Plant monitoring is being conducted for biodiversity and contaminants, and because plants are important both as wildlife habitat and as...

Monitoring activities have collected bulk suspended sediment samples using continuous flow centrifuges and Phillips Tube samplers in the Lower Athabasca River and tributaries respectively. Further, in the absence of pre-development monitoring for this region, high fidelity dated lake sediment...

Aquatic bird eggs are being collected for contaminants analysis. Egg collections in the Peace-Athabasca Delta area support Parks Canada’s activities at Wood Buffalo National Park and the multi-stakeholder Peace-Athabasca Ecosystem Monitoring Program. This monitoring activity employs repeated...

Benthic invertebrates monitoring includes both lotic (rivers/streams) and lentic (wetlands) ecosystems. Aquatic biomonitoring provides a direct measure of change in biotic populations and communities in relation to benchmark or reference conditions and can help identify the ecological effects of...

The health of individual amphibians, amphibian populations, and their wetland habitats are monitored in the oil sands region and at reference locations. Contaminants assessments are done at all sites. Amphibians developing near oil sands activities may be exposed to concentrations of oil...

Water quality and ecosystem health data used to conduct a cumulative effects assessment of Canadian Great Lakes nearshore waters in support of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are included in this dataset. The data was collected by various government and non-government agencies and...

The Homogenized Surface Wind Speed data consist of monthly, seasonal and annual means of hourly wind speed (kilometres per hour) at standard 10 metre level for 156 locations in Canada. Homogenized climate data incorporate adjustments (derived from statistical procedures) to the original station...

The Homogenized Surface Air Temperature data consist of monthly, seasonal and annual means of homogenized daily maximum, minimum and mean surface air temperatures (degrees Celsius) for 338 locations in Canada. Homogenized climate data incorporate adjustments (derived from statistical procedures)...

This map shows the projected change in mean precipitation for 2016-2035, with respect to the reference period of 1986-2005 for RCP4.5, expressed as a percentage (%) of mean precipitation in the reference period. The median projected change across the ensemble of CMIP5 climate models is shown. For...

Gridded monthly, seasonal and annual anomalies derived from daily total precipitation is available at a 50km resolution across Canada. The Canadian gridded data (CANGRD) are interpolated from adjusted precipitation (i.e., AHCCD datasets). Adjusted precipitation data incorporate adjustments to the...

Gridded monthly, seasonal and annual mean temperature anomalies derived from daily minimum, maximum and mean surface air temperatures (degrees Celsius) is available at a 50km resolution across Canada. The Canadian gridded data (CANGRD) are interpolated from homogenized temperature (i.e., AHCCD...

Monthly, seasonal and annual trends of daily minimum, mean and maximum surface air temperature change (degrees Celsius) based on homogenized station data (AHCCD) are available. Trends are calculated using the Theil-Sen method using the station’s full period of available data. The availability of...

Monthly, seasonal and annual trends of total precipitation change (millimetres) based on adjusted station data (AHCCD) are available. Trends are calculated using the Theil-Sen method using the station’s full period of available data. The availability of precipitation trends will vary by station;...

Monthly, seasonal and annual trends of mean wind speed change (kilometres per hour) based on homogenized station data (AHCCD) are available. Trends are calculated using the Theil-Sen method using the station’s full period of available data. The availability of surface wind speed trends will vary...

This map shows the projected change in mean precipitation for 2046-2065, with respect to the reference period of 1986-2005 for RCP8.5, expressed as a percentage (%) of mean precipitation in the reference period. The median projected change across the ensemble of CMIP5 climate models is shown....

Statistically downscaled multi-model ensembles of total precipitation are available at a 10km spatial resolution for 1951-2100. Statistically downscaled ensembles are based on output from twenty-four Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) global climate models (GCM). Daily...

This map shows the projected average change in mean temperature (°C) for 2081-2100, with respect to the reference period of 1986-2005 for RCP4.5. The median projected change across the ensemble of CMIP5 climate models is shown. For more maps on projected change, please visit the Canadian...

The data consist of monthly, seasonal and annual means of homogenized daily maximum, minimum and mean surface air temperatures for more than 330 locations in Canada; monthly, seasonal and annual totals of adjusted daily rainfall, snowfall and total precipitation for more than 460 locations;...