A Newly Discovered Microbe Could Accelerate Global Warming

Teaming beneath Sweden's thawing permafrost is a previously undiscovered microbe known as methanongen (Candidatus Methanoflorens Stordalenmirensis). As its name suggests, the microbe does one thing really well: release methane into the atmosphere, presenting a feedback loop of gas production that scientists believe will impact the future of global warming.

After extracting DNA from soil samples, the team of researchers used metagenomic sequencing (the study of genetic material in environmental samples) to reconstruct a near-complete genome. There they found the genes required for hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, or the ability to produce methane, which is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States, and more efficient at trapping radiation than carbon dioxide. It's also worth noting that methane is also released in quantities by wetlands, livestock, and human-created gas leaks.

University of Queensland scientists at the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics said that the methanogen was already thriving in a thick subsurface layer of soil on Sweden's thawing permafrost. “The micro-organism generates methane by using carbon dioxide and hydrogen from the bacteria it lives alongside," said researcher Ben Woodcroft, who added that the continued thawing of the permafrost region would only release more microbes, driving more and more methane gas release.

“This micro-organism is responsible for producing a substantial fraction of methane at this site,” said UQ’s Australian Centre for Ecogenomics Deputy Director Associate Professor Gene Tyson. “Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with about 25 times the warming capacity of carbon dioxide.”

As part of the research, scientists showed that the microbe and its close relatives thrive in many other methane-producing habits across the globe. Looking at the map provided by researchers, the global distribution of methanogen-like microbes covers much of Canada, Russia, Greenland, and other regions in the arctic. With such wide geographic reach in the thawing permafrost, the feedback loop will likely only intensify.

All the more reason for humans to control whatever methane release we can, whether that be by curbing natural gas production and delivery, or the methane produced by corporate livestock farms.