A Climate Science Regional Action Plan for the Gulf of Alaska
Large changes in climate are expected in the U.S. Gulf of Alaska (GOA) in the coming decades. Projected changes include warming of ocean waters, decreases in ocean pH, sea level rise, changes in ocean circulation and stratification, and potential concomitant changes in species distributions, ecosystem productivity, and food-web structure. While the nature of physical changes is clear, such as warming and ocean acidification, ecosystem responses to changing physical conditions are uncertain because it is unknown which of several forcing factors will be dominant.