TheVoiceOfJoyce

Scientists are rushing to sites, to sample the microbial biodiversity. Pathogens and microbes are being analyzed for the first time. Along with sea level rising, we can expect more Carbon emissions from glacial melts.

No one knows whether pathogens are being released into the atmosphere or whether they’ll be harmful as they circle our World?

www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/17/microbes-melting-glaciers-bacteria-ecosystems

The microbes being washed downstream could fertilise ecosystems, the researchers said, but needed to be much better studied to identify any potential pathogens.

The scientists said the rapid melting of the ice by the climate crisis meant the glaciers and the unique microbial ecosystems they harboured were “dying before our eyes”, leaving researchers racing to understand them before they disappeared.

Some of the microbes may also be a future source of useful biological molecules, such as new antibiotics.

The scientists collected surface meltwaters from eight glaciers across Europe and North America and from two sites on the Greenland ice cap. They found tens of thousands of microbes in each millilitre of water.