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Scientists' warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change

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posted on 2023-05-21, 08:10 authored by Cavicchioli, R, Ripple, WJ, Timmis, KN, Azam, F, Bakken, LR, Baylis, M, Behrenfeld, MJ, Boetius, A, Philip BoydPhilip Boyd, Classen, AT, Crowther, TW, Danovaro, R, Foreman, CM, Huisman, J, Hutchins, DA, Jansson, JK, Karl, DM, Koskella, B, Mark Welch, DB, Martiny, JBH, Moran, MA, Orphan, VJ, Reay, DS, Remais, JV, Rich, VI, Singh, BK, Stein, LY, Stewart, FJ, Sullivan, MB, van Oppen, MJH, Weaver, SC, Webb, EA, Webster, NS
In the Anthropocene, in which we now live, climate change is impacting most life on Earth. Microorganisms support the existence of all higher trophic life forms. To understand how humans and other life forms on Earth (including those we are yet to discover) can withstand anthropogenic climate change, it is vital to incorporate knowledge of the microbial ‘unseen majority’. We must learn not just how microorganisms affect climate change (including production and consumption of greenhouse gases) but also how they will be affected by climate change and other human activities. This Consensus Statement documents the central role and global importance of microorganisms in climate change biology. It also puts humanity on notice that the impact of climate change will depend heavily on responses of microorganisms, which are essential for achieving an environmentally sustainable future.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Nature Reviews Microbiology

Volume

17

Issue

9

Pagination

569-586

ISSN

1740-1526

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

© 2019. The Authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Ecosystem adaptation to climate change

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