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The Blob Blog - Warm Northeast Pacific Ocean Conditions Continue (2016)

Overview

Dr. Richard Dewey, Associate Director, Science
**Updated: February 3, 2016** The warm anomalous surface water conditions of the Northeast Pacific that became apparent in 2013 and continued through 2015, may seem to be dissipating as surface temperatures return to normal. But a significant amount of heat remains at depth, so there is likely more life left in the Blob for 2016. A series of cold winter storms sweeping across the Gulf of Alaska this (2015-16) past November through January have effectively washed out the surface signature of the "Blob". These are the same storms that have been absent for nearly three years and allowed the Blob to develop in late 2013. Typically, a deep Aleutian Low and winter storms in the Gulf of Alaska mix up cold nutrient-rich waters from below, cooling the surface waters and supplying essential nutrients to the phytoplankton and the rest of the food chain. But in 2013 and 2014 the Aleutian Low was weak and there was a near-complete absence of major winter storms in the Gulf, resulting in one of the most significant Northeast Pacific oceanographic events on record. A number of ongoing [scientific workshops](http://www.nanoos.org/resources/anomalies_workshop/workshop2.php) have been held to assess and discuss these extraordinary conditions.

The Northeast Pacific Blob: fading or not?

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The warm surface water anomaly dubbed the “Blob” that has fascinated scientists and many Canadians for two years has all but disappeared from surface satellite maps. But is it gone for good? > “It’s not dead yet. There may still be a lot of heat down there—deep down—below the view from the satellites,” says Richard Dewey, Ocean Networks Canada’s Associate Director, Science Services.

Cambridge Bay at the crossroads of history and climate science (2016)

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In late summer 2016, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut found itself at the centre of an arctic crossroads of sorts: a pivotal meeting place where ice-bound history is melting into climate science. A week after the first luxury cruise ship sailed through a virtually ice-free Northwest Passage and anchored in Cambridge Bay, the wreck of Franklin’s ship The Terror—abandoned in 1845 due to impenetrable sea-ice—was finally discovered in Terror Bay, just 200 km east. The coincidence in time and place of these two iconic voyages poignantly highlights how quickly the arctic climate is changing, the need to monitor these changes, and the growing importance of Cambridge Bay as an emerging arctic hub.

Arctic sea ice: slow growth in 2016

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While global temperature tracking is suggesting 2016 will follow 2014 and 2015 as the warmest year on record, the effects are acute and immediate in the Canadian Arctic where [climate change has already warmed more than twice the global average](http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-record-low-20903). This warming is having a dramatic effect on Arctic sea ice, with reports of both low geographic coverage and low total thickness.

The Great Thaw: our melting Arctic must be monitored and Canada should lead the way

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The following OpEd written by Ocean Networks Canada President Kate Moran was published in [The Hill Times](http://www.hilltimes.com/2017/05/08/great-thaw-melting-arctic-must-monitored-canada-lead-way/105923) on Monday, 8 May 2017. Imagine autumn in the Gatineau’s without trees, or the Rideau River without water. Now imagine the Arctic without ice. All unimaginable images, yet despite our proud “Great White North” designation, the problem in grasping the magnitude of this meltdown is that it seems so far away. In fact, the vast majority of Canada’s 35 million citizens know only of the Arctic through the pages of school textbooks, and it’s easy to see why. According to the 2016 census, 66% of Canadians live within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border, as far from the Arctic as possible, representing just 4% of Canada’s total territory. The dramatic melting of sea ice impacts nearly everyone on the planet. In 2016/17, Canada saw the Rideau Canal open for just 25 skating days, Vancouver blanketed with more snow in one week than in two years, the Prairies endure their most intense storm season on record, and Fort McMurray weather their driest spring in over 70 years before “The Beast” wildfire became the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. The scientific community has long warned about the irreversible effects of a steady rise in global temperatures on our Arctic, even influencing some Hollywood blockbusters. And although the slow burn has materialized into tangible results over the years, too many have grown accustomed to thinking of climate change in Day After Tomorrow-like scenarios. Think of it not as a sprint, but a marathon.

Ocean Networks Canada in the Arctic: Local problems, global connections

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Only 0.5 percent of the world’s population lives in the Arctic, a remote region where extreme conditions prevail and daily life revolves around ice, both glacial ice and sea-ice. And as global warming continues to cause rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures, that all-important sea ice is increasingly melting away.

Rock solid climate solutions: Negative emissions technology

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NEWS RELEASE

Canada’s national ocean observatory critical for ocean, planet

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UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA NEWS RELEASE
August 19, 2022 Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, today welcomes a new federal investment in its world-leading ocean observatories located on the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coasts of Canada. The support will help drive climate change solutions, safer coastal communities, Indigenous ocean data stewardship, a healthier ocean and a sustainable blue economy. The [funding announced](https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2022+onc-funding+media-release) today is awarded to UVic through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) [Major Science Initiatives Fund](https://www.innovation.ca/news/msi-august-2022), which supports a portion of the operating and maintenance costs of selected national science facilities across Canada. ONC will receive an investment of almost $115 million over six years to continue advancing ocean observing, extending the reach and application of its open access big data to benefit science, society and industry. In the past 16 years ONC has expanded beyond its early work observing the Salish Sea to becoming a true national ocean observing facility, with installations and local and Indigenous partnerships on all three coasts of Canada, attracting more than 23,000 users of its scientific data around the world. The real-time and long-time series ocean data that ONC collects from its cabled, mobile and community-based observing networks make possible a wide range of services that support scientific discovery, climate impact monitoring, maritime safety, tsunami and earthquake early warning, innovation in climate change mitigation, and a sustainable ocean economy, says Kate Moran, president and chief executive officer of ONC. “Canadians can be proud of their national observatory that not only yields valuable insights into this undersea world that covers two thirds of our planet, but also contributes to Canada’s climate leadership through innovation in ocean nature-based and technological climate mitigation solutions and coastal resilience. This investment also means that ONC, through its work with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, can continue working with partners In Canada and internationally to advance projects in pursuit of healthier oceans, science that promotes ocean resilience, and a citizenry engaged with the oceans’ role in supporting life on this planet,” says Moran.

Earthquake risk minimal when storing carbon under the deep ocean, study finds

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NEWS RELEASE Injecting carbon dioxide (CO₂) into ocean basalt has almost no risk of triggering any seismic activity such as earthquakes or fault slip according to new research from [Solid Carbon](https://solidcarbon.ca/), a promising climate change mitigation project for reducing the amount of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere. Advanced computer modelling by scientists with the Solid Carbon team shows injecting CO₂ under the Cascadia Basin has less than 1 percent chance of causing fault slip. Solid Carbon, an international research team led by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), a University of Victoria (UVic) initiative, and funded by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, is investigating how to permanently and safely store CO₂ below the ocean floor. The goal is to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and inject it into young (less than 15 million years old) porous basalt rock, such as that found in the Cascadia Basin off the west coast of Canada, where it would interact with minerals, transforming into carbonate rock.

New summer ocean temperature records set for two sites on ONC's Pacific observatory

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NEWS RELEASE Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) has recorded the highest daily average summertime temperatures at two of its seafloor observatory sites in the northeast Pacific Ocean since continuous live monitoring started there in 2009. ONC, a University of Victoria initiative, operates the North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) observatory that powers scientific instruments and thousands of sensors, providing real time ocean conditions data. The 800-kilometre NEPTUNE cabled observatory is located off the west coast of Vancouver Island.