Research shows shifting composition threatens marine ecosystems and highlights water quality impacts of global warming.
Research shows shifting composition threatens marine ecosystems and highlights water quality impacts of global warming.
Climate change is starving the Arctic Ocean of essential nutrients, with the region's six largest rivers now delivering far less of the type of nitrogen that marine ecosystems need to survive, according to new research in one of Earth's most vulnerable regions.
The study, led by Bridger J. Ruyle of NYU Tandon School of Engineering, is published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, where it has been selected as an Editor's Choice.
The study found that warming temperatures and thawing permafrost are fundamentally altering the chemistry of Arctic rivers. The result is that coastal food webs that have sustained Indigenous communities for millennia are being deprived of inorganic nitrogen, an essential nutrient, potentially triggering cascading effects throughout the Arctic Ocean ecosystem.
Read More: New York University
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