Canada''s Atlantic fish will be squeezed into ever smaller patches of cool water, endangered Atlantic salmon will be doomed, and key boreal forest species will be stranded as their natural habitats erode, if the globe''s temperature is allowed to rise too far, WWF said.
A new WWF report, launched last November, examines the impacts of a 2°C (3.6°F) increase in global average temperature on the Canadian fishery and forestry sectors. While various studies have looked at ecosystem-wide impacts, this is the first time that scientists have studied the impacts of a 2°C warming on the distribution of individual species, says the report. "The threat from global warming means that there will be few fish to fish and not many trees to harvest," says Julia Langer, WWF-Canada's Director of Global Threats. "Canada's obligation to fight climate change takes on added urgency when the cost of inaction is our emblamatic renewable resource base."
The report states that a 2°C warming will increase Atlantic water temperatures from 1.5 to 2.2°C. The warming continues the pressure on fish populations already strained by overfishing, pollution and habitat loss. Both Atlantic salmon and Atlantic deep sea scallops may be lost in their southern range, with no northward gain. The Asian shore crab, an alien species, is likely to invade shoreline habitats along the coast of Nova Scotia, Gulf of St. Lawrence and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, potentially covering the entire Canadian Atlantic.
