Table 1.

Effects of climate change on systems (Province of Quebec, Canada)

Affected biological and physical systems	Examples of impact
Permafrost conditions	Most significant warming in western Arctic than in other Canadian regions At least 1°C increase in surface permafrost temperature since 1990 in northern Quebec
Snow cover	10% decrease in extent of Northern Hemisphere 1972–2003 Decrease of 20 days in duration of snow in Arctic since 1950
Glacier cover	Widespread retreat since 1920s in Arctic Estimated loss of ice mass in Canadian Arctic of 25 km3 per year, 1995–2000
Sea-, lake- and river-ice cover	3% per decade decrease in annual average area of sea in Northern Hemisphere, 1978– 2003
Coastal erosion	Accelerated erosion and degradation of coastline throughout the Gulf of St Lawrence
Plant phenology and productivity	5–6 days advance since 1959 in the onset of phonological spring in eastern North America Greater productivity rates of spruce in poplar in Quebec Lengthening of growing season for crop production
Distribution of animal species	Increasing abundance of cool and warm water fish species relative to cold water species