Climate change and its effects on ecosystems, habitats and biota : State of the Gulf of Maine report

Natural Regions of the Gulf of Maine CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEMS, HABITATS AND BIOTA STATE OF THE GULF OF MAINE REPORT June 2010 CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON ECOSYSTEMS, HABITATS AND BIOTA STATE OF THE GULF OF MAINE REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Issue in Brief. [...] Population changes and economic activities in and around the Gulf of Maine have been described in The Gulf of Maine in Context. [...] Much of the ecology on a broad scale is dependent on the interplay of the Labrador Current and the northern wall of the Gulf Stream. [...] The rate of increase of coastal sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine is similar to the rise in global mean SST of about 0.7°C over the last century (Trenberth et al. [...] Relative sea level rise in the Gulf of Maine is due to the combined effect of an increased global mean sea level, and the addi- tional effect of regional subsidence of the Earth’s crust.