Microbiomes at Risk

Microbiomes and Climate Change

http://e360.yale.edu/slideshow/is_climate_change_putting_br_-_worlds_microbiomes_at_risk/520/2/

March 2016

Researchers are only beginning to understand the complexities of the microbes in the earth’s soil and the role they play in fostering healthy ecosystems. Now, climate change is threatening to disrupt these microbes and the key functions they provide...

The fact is that the earth has locked up a great deal of carbon and should it come unlocked as C02 it could dramatically speed up climate change. "The big question is whether soil will be a sink or source of greenhouse gases in the future..."

Researchers say that as the planet warms, essential diversity and function in the microbial world could be lost...

Whether microbes can go extinct is not settled science. When it comes to microbes, “everything is everywhere” has been the adage among researchers who thought that all types lived everywhere, though abundance varied. Yet as more is learned about these tiniest of critters, some scientists believe that likely isn't true, and there is concern that some key microbes could be rendered extinct before we know what they do.

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What About the Earth's Microbiome?

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/what-about-earth-8217-s-microbiome/

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See Unified Microbiome Initiative

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/27/calling-all-microbiome-science-champions

Scientists and engineers are teaming up to answer fundamental questions about the microbiome – the billions of microorganisms that live on and in us, our homes, our food, and our planet. Questions such as, “What is a healthy microbiome?” and “How can we manage microbiomes to keep them resilient?” are applicable to microbiomes in habitats as diverse as oceans, soil, and the human body...

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Microbiology: Create a global microbiome effort

http://www.nature.com/news/microbiology-create-a-global-microbiome-effort-1.18636

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Microbiomes at the Roots: A New Look at Forest Ecology

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/microbiomes_at_the_roots_a_new_look_at_forest_ecology/2699

-- Green Policy / Global & Local

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