Global change is altering ecosystems in ways that threaten the critical
functions on which biodiversity depends. Despite this, we know very
little about how drivers of global change broadly affect food webs.
While an industry of studies documents shifts in whole carbon pathways
within food webs in response to anthropogenic pressures, a comprehensive
synthesis is lacking. To address this, we provide empirical examples
across diverse ecosystems and conduct a systematic literature review to
reveal the prevalence of asymmetric rewiring -- a phenomenon whereby
drivers of global change consistently but disproportionally alter the
flow of some carbon pathways relative to others. Further, using food web
models, we show how asymmetric rewiring erodes resilience and disrupts
key functions, such as primary and secondary production. Global change
is complex and multidimensional, making it challenging to understand how
human activities affect ecosystem processes. Our work critically
synthesizes empirical evidence to uncover a remarkably general response
in food webs to global environmental change that needs to be better
understood to protect nature and the services that human societies rely
on in a rapidly changing world.