After a discussion among the co-editors-in-chief of Climate of the Past, we decided to support the handling editor's proposal to highlight this paper. Based on measurements of iron, acidity, and conductivity from the EGRIP ice core, the study suggests that the iron hypothesis may be less effective than previously thought in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the Fe-limited North Pacific Ocean. Despite a strong increase in total atmospheric iron deposition, the fraction of iron more likely to be available to phytoplankton increased only modestly. The findings suggest that other factors, such as sea-ice extent or iron remobilization from sediments, may have played a more relevant role than atmospheric iron deposition in regulating marine primary productivity during the last glacial transition. denis-didier Rousseau on behalf of CP leadership