Global warming has already started to disrupt the Arctic food web, as this videographic explains. VIDEOGRAPHIC
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00:00Global warming has already started to disrupt the Arctic food web.
00:10Sea ice loss leads to changes in the zooplankton community.
00:15The population of large, lipid-rich copepods are declining,
00:20while small zooplankton are increasing in number and range.
00:23If there are less zooplankton to eat, or if their nutritional quality declines,
00:28the fish that feed on them also decrease, like the polar cod,
00:32a crucial species in this ecosystem's food chain.
00:36The eggs and larvae of the fish also suffer from warmer surface waters
00:40and greater exposure to ultraviolet rays.
00:44Fewer polar cod also means less food for their predators,
00:47seals, large fish and cetaceans like narwhals and belugas.
00:55These species migrate northwards in search of habitable conditions,
00:59while their ecosystems are populated by new predators and competing species from the south.
01:06The weakening of this food web affects the species at the top,
01:09the humans that populate the Arctic regions.
01:24For more UN videos visit www.un.org