NR-HQ-00-07E

Canada and Japan join forces in effort to understand climate change and oceans

March 20, 2000

OTTAWA -- Dr. John Davis, Assistant Deputy Minister of Science at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Mr. Masato Chijiya, Executive Director of the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC), today signed a formal agreement on climate change science initiatives.

"Climate change goes beyond borders and governments. This partnership will help our research institutes work together effectively on understanding the role of the ocean as the driver for climate change," Dr. Davis said.

"Geography and a common concern over climate change and its impact on our oceans make our two countries natural partners in oceanic research," said Mr. Chijiya. "This partnership will bring greater results than individual efforts by combining our resources and capabilities."

The agreement provides a five-year framework to develop and implement joint science projects in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. This partnership will offer each country the opportunity to share its expertise, resources and equipment that will result in more extensive, in-depth research projects. Japan has a strong Antarctic program and this cooperative endeavour will help strengthen Canadian scientists’ linkage to the bipolar research initiatives.

Some of the collaborative research activities will include monitoring ocean climate changes in the upper layer of the Arctic Ocean and observing the balance between fresh water and chemical substances in northern waters – prerequisites to understanding the variables of climate change.

Research under this agreement will enable scientists to better address major questions such as the possibility of accelerated global warming from the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, locked in the permafrost. Habitat implications for polar bears, plankton and fish when temperature and food sources change will be better understood. Scientists will also seek answers to questions such as what happens to the ecosystem when pollutants, such as pesticides and herbicides, are transported from the industrial south to the north.

To reach the goal of better understanding climate change, JAMSTEC and Fisheries and Oceans Canada will be developing and testing new research technologies during the five-year span of this agreement. Autonomous underwater vehicles, remote sensing, ice-drift buoys and sub-ice moorings are some of the new research tools that will be developed or tested during scientific expeditions.