Changes in rivers inputs during the last decades significantly impacted the biogeochemistry of the eastern Mediterranean basin: a modelling study

•PO4 availability in the sub-surface layer of the EMB significantly lowered in the last decades.•The mean DOC concentrations in the surface layer has increased by 20% on average over the EMB.•A new potential explanation is provided for the shift between the top of N and P nutriclines in the EMB .•A decline in abundance and the reduction of size of copepods has been modelled over the last decades.