From the Scientific Research and Development Center (TSNR) in Veliky Novgorod, St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design and St. Russian scientists from the Institute of Mechanical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, along with colleagues from the university and researchers from Howard University in California and the US, have found that microbial diversity in permafrost can prevent global warming. socialbites.ca was informed by the press service of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), which supported this research.
Over the past two and a half centuries, the average temperature at the Earth’s surface has increased by about 1°C. However, in permafrost regions the environment has warmed by 4°C in the last 70 years alone. This effect is due to the release of methane from soils melting under the influence of microorganisms. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that has a global warming effect that is 17 times greater than carbon dioxide.
The team used Goody’s mathematical model to simulate the dynamics in Earth’s atmosphere. Accordingly, the atmosphere is considered a series of individual cells in which air circulates: below – on the Earth’s surface – it heats up, then rises, then cools and returns to the Earth again.
Modeling showed that if the diversity of microorganisms does not exceed three species – which means that the optimal temperature for them is approximately the same – such a system becomes very unstable. In this case, we should expect a massive release of methane into the atmosphere and, as a result, a sharp warming. When there are many types of bacteria, their optimum temperatures differ and no sudden release of greenhouse gases occurs.
With high microbial diversity, the system also becomes stable because different types of bacteria compete with each other and partially suppress each other’s growth. This also prevents the intense growth of individual populations and the release of large amounts of methane.
“We were able to prove that the moment when a sharp jump in temperature on the Earth’s surface can occur depends on microbial diversity. It is determined by the moisture, temperature, nutrient content and acidity of the soil. If we cannot influence microbial diversity, senior researcher Elena Savenkova from the Central Scientific Research Center told socialbites.ca The dependence we discovered should be taken into account when developing warming forecasts, he said.
Previous scientists I learnedthat carbon dioxide is becoming an even stronger influence on the global climate.
Source: Gazeta
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