A Marine Institute research paper recently published in the journal Nature Communications has found that the climate in the northwest Atlantic goes through regular temperature cycles.
The research work, led by Dr. Frederic Cyr, and involving some seven DFO researchers, tracked climate and temperature data dating back to 1950.
Cyr says over that period of time they were able to identify eight to nine temperature phases, lasting from three to as long as 20 years.
He says the phases were linked to long-lasting changes in atmospheric pressure in the northern hemisphere and resulted in higher ecosystem productivity in warmer phases and lower productivity in colder phases.
Cyr told the Tim Powers Show that the research allows fisheries management to better understand the phase the North Atlantic Ocean is in.
“So this can guide fisheries management,” says Cyr, by being more conservative in colder phases “and a bit more loose” in management decisions in a productive phase.
