Projected Ocean Acidification and Deoxygenation Along the Canadian Northeast Pacific Continental Shelf

A high resolution regional model of the Northeast Pacific Ocean is used to downscale from Earth System Model simulations using Representative Concentration Pathway $4.5$. Changes in stratification, productivity, acidification, oxygen content, and the distribution of nutrients are examined along the continental shelf for the diverse regions of the Canadian Pacific Coast including Queen Charlotte Sound, the west coast of Vancouver Island and the oceans surrounding Haida Gwaii. The model shows significant skill for spatial and seasonal distribution of temperature, salinity, nutrients, oxygen, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the present climate. Future (2046--2065) climate simulations show an increasing encroachment of acidic waters that are depleted in oxygen onto the continental shelf. The fraction of shelf/slope waters experiencing biological impacts of low oxygen and/or low $CaC{O}_3$ saturation state is likely to increase markedly over the next half century.