Western Canada offers perculiar challenges and opportunities to natural resources managers. It is quite extensive, rich in natural resources and sits over an area with wide variation in elevation, temperature, precipitation and several other climate variables. Climate impact studies in western Canada, like in many other locations, require the availability of high quality spatial climate data. The most common method of providing spatial climate data is interpolation of data available from weather stations or from climate models. This study provides an evaluation of a new interpolation technique for providing scale-free climate data for British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in western canada. Climate change trends are described and a current and future climate characterization of canada's terrestrial ecozones in western Canada is presented.
Evaluation of a new method for generating scale-free climate data for western Canada using observed climate data at 240 weather-station locations in Western Canada shows the method to be a very good estimation of observed climate in western Canada. details >>>
Changes in historical climate revealed from interpolated climate data are consistent with changes that have been provided by various other sources in Canada. Western Canada is shown to have undergone warming of about 0.6 degrees Celcius over the last 100 years details >>>
Characterization of ecozones using present climate normals (1961-90) shows that climate is a very good predictor of ecozones. It is also revealed that in the future ecozones climate conditions will be shift over the landscape from what is currrently known. details >>>
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