Arctic Food Chain Hit as Tipping Point Passed

An irreversible shift in the chemical make-up of the Arctic Ocean driven by climate change is disrupting the region’s food chain, a study suggests.

Widespread loss of Arctic sea ice has led to a sharp fall in levels of a key nutrient, affecting populations of plankton, fish, seabirds and marine mammals, researchers say.

Their analysis reveals that exposure to sunlight of vast shallow regions of the ocean previously covered by ice fuels a process that breaks down the nutrient – nitrate – and removes it from seawater.

Read more at: University of Edinburgh

The polar research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon in Fram Strait, Arctic Ocean. (Photo Credit: Lawrence Hislop/Norwegian Polar Institute)