An irreversible shift in nitrate levels of the Arctic Ocean (driven by climate change) is affecting the region’s food chain. Submission statement: this is very bad and obviously collapse-related; on a systemic level, this dismantles the Arctic’s role as a planetary life-support system, as the permanent loss of nitrate will starve the marine food web from its base, while simultaneously crippling the ocean’s ability to pump carbon out of the atmosphere just when we need it most (since arctic plankton is basically a giant CO2 pump). At the same time, the nutrient-poor water flowing into the North Atlantic will likely depress plankton growth and commercial fisheries beyond the Arctic, locking the entire interconnected local system into a less stable and resilient state from which it can't easily recover. submitted by /u/shakshak235 [link] [comments]