In Canada, DFO assessments have reported a high probability of significant climate change impacts in all marine and freshwater basins, with effects increasing over time (DFO 2012a, 2012b), while climate projections indicate that ecosystems and fisheries will be disrupted into the foreseeable future (Lotze et al. 2019b; Bryndum-Buchholz et al. 2020; Tittensor et al. 2021; Boyce et al. 2022c). Despite its imminence, climate change is infrequently factored into Canada’s primary marine conservation strategies, such as spatial planning (O’Regan et al. 2021) or fisheries management (Boyce et al. 2021a; Pepin et al. 2022). The Climate Risk Index for Biodiversity was developed to assess climate risk for marine species in a quantitative, spatially explicit, and scalable way to better support climate-informed decision-making. It has been used to evaluate climate risks for marine life globally (Boyce et al. 2022a), regionally (Lewis et al. 2023), and for fisheries (Boyce et al. 2022c). Here, we describe how the CRIB framework was used to estimate climate risks for 2,959 species and ecosystems across the Canadian marine territory under contrasting emission scenarios. Using Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) as an example, we describe the approach’s data, methods, and outputs to transparently and tangibly show how it quantifies risk and can inform and support climate-informed decision-making in Canada. Climate risk estimates for species and ecosystems accompany the report.

Cite this data as: Boyce, D., Greenan, B., Shackell, N. Data of:

A climate risk index for marine life across the Canadian exclusive economic zone.

Published: January 2024. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S.

https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/2a0b3298-2bcc-49a0-a745-af56ed0462f1