As the planet has warmed, scientists have long been concerned about the potential for harmful greenhouse gasses to seep out of thawing Arctic permafrost.
As the planet has warmed, scientists have long been concerned about the potential for harmful greenhouse gasses to seep out of thawing Arctic permafrost. Recent estimates suggest that by 2100 the amount of carbon dioxide and methane released from these perpetually frozen lands could be on par with emissions from large industrial countries. However, new research led by a team of Colorado State University microbiome scientists suggests those estimates might be too low.
Microorganisms are responsible for the process that will generate greenhouse gasses from thawing northern peatlands, which contain about 50% of the world’s soil carbon. For now, many of the microbes in this environment are frozen and inactive. But as the land thaws the microbes will “wake up” and begin to churn through carbon in the ground. This natural process, known as microbial respiration, is what produces the carbon dioxide and methane emissions forecasted by climate modelers.
Currently, these models assume that this community of microorganisms — known as a microbiome — will break down some types of carbon but not others. But the CSU-led work published this week in the journal Nature Microbiology provides new insight into how these microbes will behave once activated. The research demonstrates that the soil microbes embedded in the permafrost will go after a class of compounds previously thought to be untouchable under certain conditions: polyphenols.
Read more at Colorado State University
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