The melting of the ice linked to global warming will not only lead to an increase in water levels. It will also give rise to the release of many microbes and viruses from the ice located at the poles, but also on the Tibetan plateau, the third largest concentration of ice in the world. To better understand the potential danger of the microorganisms present there, a team of Chinese scientists set out to catalog them, reports Futura Planet this Sunday.
Their first results, published in the journal Nature on June 27, 2022, thus report 968 different species of microbes on 21 glaciers in Tibet. They live there in harsh conditions, with very low temperature, with a level of solar radiation and with very few sources of food. To survive, they have the ability to freeze and thaw.
10,000 year old germs
Of the 3,241 pieces of genetic material (genomes) that have been found in total, 82% belong to new species. Some of these microbes are over 10,000 years old. Another study carried out in 2021 reported 33 viruses (including 28 unknown) discovered in the ice of the Guliya plateau, still in Tibet. The region, particularly affected by global warming, has already seen its glaciers reduce by 80% since 1980.
These microorganisms trapped for thousands of years were usually those that were on plants or in the soil at the time. The ice also locked up large amounts of greenhouse gases, such as methane.
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