We might think that we could control the climate
but unless we harness the powers of our microbial
co-habitants on this planet we might befighting
a losing battle, according to an article in
the February 2008 issue of Microbiology Today.
Humans are continually altering the atmosphere.
“Arrogant organisms that we are, it is
easy to view this as something entirely novel
in Earth’s history,” says Dr Dave
Reay from the University of Edinburgh. “In
truth of course, microorganisms have been at
it for billions of years.”
Humans affect the atmosphere indirectly by
their activities. Most human-induced methane
comes from livestock, rice fields and landfill:
in all of these places, microbes are actually
responsible for producing the methane, 150 million
tonnes a year. Microbes in wetlands produce
an additional 100 million tonnes and those that
live inside termites release 20 million tonnes
of methane annually.
About 90 billion tonnes of carbon a year is
absorbed from the atmosphere by the oceans,
and almost as much is released; microbes play
a key role in both. On land, a combination of
primary produc t ion, respi rat ion and mi c
robial decomposition leads to the uptake of
120 billion tonnes of carbon every year and
the release of 119 billion tonnes.
“The impact of these microbially-controlled
cycles on future climate warming is potentially
huge,” says Dr Reay. By better understanding
these processes we could take more carbon out
of the atmosphere using microbes on land and
in the sea. Methane-eating bacteria can be used
to catch methane that is released from landfill,
Cyanobacteria could provide hydrogen fuel, and
plankton have already become a feedstock for
some biofuels.
“Microbes will continue as climate engineers
long after humans have burned that final barrel
of oil. Whether they help us to avoid dangerous
climate change in the 21st century or push us
even faster towards it depends on just how well
we understand them.
(Source:
sciencedaily.com, 2008)
ENVIS
CENTRE Newsletter Vol.6, No 2 Jue
2008 |
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