ITHACA, N.Y., Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The ecosystems of the northwest Atlantic Ocean, from Greenland to North Carolina, are undergoing major changes, a Cornell University oceanographer said.
Some scientists say cod overfishing caused the ecosystem shift. But the paper published in the Feb. 23 issue of the journal Science said climate change also played a role.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that northwest Atlantic ecosystems are being affected by climate forcing from the bottom up and overfishing from the top down," said Charles Greene, a Cornell oceanographer.
"Predicting the fate of these ecosystems will be one of oceanography's grand challenges for the 21st century," he said.
Among the ecosystem changes cited in the paper was the freshening of seawater along the North Atlantic shelf.
