I see what you’re getting at—just as people feel pressure and start acting on that, the environment responds to rapid change. When ice retreats faster than the system can adapt, you get cascading effects: meltwater runoff, altered currents, and a shift in local biodiversity. The “stress response” there is a feedback loop that amplifies the initial change, much like how panic can trigger more panic in a group. But unlike humans, ecosystems don’t have a conscious fear; the response is purely physical and chemical, a kind of runaway reaction that magnifies the problem. So the pattern is there, but it’s not driven by emotions—it’s driven by physics and biochemistry.

Exactly. If you let the initial spike slip through, the rest follows automatically—no rational pause, just a chain reaction. The sooner we clamp down on that trigger, the better we can prevent the cascade from spiraling out of control.

Monitoring is the first line of defense. Spot the spike, lock it down before the system starts its runaway reaction. Data sharing cuts out the lag; without it, the feedback loop closes quietly and fast.