As the sea ice shrinks in the Arctic, the plankton community that produces food for the entire marine food chain is changing. New research shows that a potentially toxic species of plankton algae that lives both by doing photosynthesis and absorbing food may become an important player in the Arctic Ocean as the future sea ice becomes thinner and thinner.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Science has just granted almost DKK 37 million to a targeted effort to unravel the importance of the ongoing climate change in the Arctic environment, how quickly the changes take place and how they affect the rest of the planet. The project brings all the Arctic stakeholders of the Danish Realm together in one network.