We conducted an extensive literature survey (meta-analysis) on how the C : N : P ratio varies with change in key environmental drivers. We found that the expected reduction in nutrients and warming under the future climate change scenario is likely to result in increased C : P and C : N of marine phytoplankton. Further, our findings highlight the greater stoichiometric plasticity of eukaryotes over prokaryotes, which provide us insights on how to understand and model plankton.