O=C=O<p>'Cryosphere meltdown' will impact Arctic marine carbon cycles and ecosystems, new study warns</p><p>A new study led by Jochen Knies from the iC3 Polar Research Hub has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Arctic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arctic</span></a> <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/fjords" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fjords</span></a> to serve as effective <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/carbon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>carbon</span></a> sinks. The findings suggest that the capacity of polar <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/oceans" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>oceans</span></a> to remove carbon from the <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/atmosphere" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>atmosphere</span></a> may be reduced as the world continues to heat up.</p><p>Knies and his collaborators discovered that rapid changes in the Arctic are transforming vibrant fjord ecosystems like Kongsfjorden in <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Svalbard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Svalbard</span></a>. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, their findings document not only a shift in phytoplankton communities due to melting ice but also a worrying decline in the capacity of these fjords to sequester carbon.</p><p>Warmer waters can enhance <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/phytoplankton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>phytoplankton</span></a> growth during sunlit summers, presenting an initial opportunity for increased productivity. However, as the waters become stratified, essential nutrients become harder to access, leading to a double-edged sword: while we may see a rise in phytoplankton <a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/biomass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>biomass</span></a>, the efficiency of CarbonCapture could decline.</p><p><a href="https://phys.org/news/2025-04-cryosphere-meltdown-impact-arctic-marine.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">phys.org/news/2025-04-cryosphe</span><span class="invisible">re-meltdown-impact-arctic-marine.html</span></a></p><p><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateScience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateScience</span></a> <br><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/ClimateCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateCrisis</span></a> <br><a href="https://climatejustice.social/tags/Cryosphere" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cryosphere</span></a></p>