Future climate of the north Pacific Ocean

Major changes in species distribution and abundance in North Pacific marine ecosystems are often correlated with climatic shifts in the twentieth century. Species affected in the past include halibut in the Gulf of Alaska, sardine near Japan, and various species along the Oregon/California coast [Chen and Hare, 2006; Zhang et al., 2004; Peterson and Schwing, 2003]. Because these changes can affect the fishing industry, we have investigated possible future climate patterns in the North Pacific based on the evaluation of 22 coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (GCMs). These GCMs were made available to the science community for independent evaluation in preparation for the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).