Microorganisms

Microorganisms are the oldest living creatures in our planet which arise some 3.5 billion years ago. These are the most diverse, abundant, and highly prevalent creature in different environments, being dominated in one place while less somewhere else. Approximately 159,000 different kinds of microorganism’s species are exist, which affect almost every aspect of our lives. Reshaping our personality, affect our mood and physiological functions, combating aging, promoting biotechnological applications, and being used as probiotics are the few diversified areas that are affected by microorganisms. Ranging in their presence in food sources to water, in household to the clinical, and from soil to air, these creatures also have a strong hold on the climate. Currently, microbes are used in plenty of applications that include nutrient recycling, the food industry, agriculture, carbon and nitrogen cycles, and other applications, as summarized in Figure 1. Besides the positive attributes of microorganisms, they are also the vectors of disease transmission and thus cause the deaths of humans, animals, and the environment. Due to their ubiquitous distribution, microorganisms are now considered a potential contributor to climate change.

Figure 1. The important functions and applications of microorganisms

Climate change  

The term climate refers to the long-term weather pattern of a specific region, while climate change describes the long-term changes or shifts in the weather conditions of a particular area. The term climate change was coined by Wallace Broecker (a geochemist) in 1975 to emphasize the importance of global temperature. Soon after, this concept was highlighted at different levels. climate change is an issue of great concern as it affects all aspects of our lives. It reflects global warming and thus becomes a one-point threat to human concerns. It adversely affects our environments and thus the human health through causing change in weather patterns, air pollutions, global warming, destroy the agriculture, lowering food productions, and increasing hunger and inadequate nutrition. Due to its potential impacts on our lives, efforts on every scale are being made to overcome the consequences of climate change. Numerous international, national, organizational, and individual efforts are made to develop strategies, guidelines, and rules that help to lower the effects of climate change. Different approaches and methodologies are proposed that help to understand the exact causative agent of climate change and the ways in which it will work effectively.

Microorganisms and climate change

Highlighting the potential role of microorganisms in our environments, like biodegradation, cleaning, and markers of environmental pollution, these are also considered to play an important role in climate change. Their role in climate change is well recognized, as they reflect different aspects of the environment. But their versatility, greater prevalence, and substantial interactions make it difficult to explore their role in climate change and greenhouse gases. These are involved in the production and utilization of greenhouse gases i.e., carbon dioxide, methane, etc. and hence produce positive and negative effects on climate change. On the other hand, the climate change negatively affects the microorganisms by acidification, warming, and a rough temperature, resulting a misbalance in their ecological distribution.    

The effects of microbes on humans and animals are prominent, indicating their importance in our lives. Similarly, the effect of climate change is not only restricted to a few terms; it covers all the environmental changes that include changes in temperature, pH, and soil topological properties, which in turn affect the microbe’s prevalence and distribution. The warming of the earth leads perishable food, more disease cases, and enhanced natural disasters, which lower the microbe’s activities. Fortunately, the physiological potential of microbes, like their growth properties, greater prevalence, and ability to share genetic information, makes them fit for environmental adaptations. These adaptations take place in several ways, like increasing bacterial respiration, developing proteins that resist environmental conditions, etc., and hence helping the microorganisms to survive during climate change. Viruses also have the potential to show adaptation to the environment being affected by climate change. These changes in microbial biology can have a great impact on humans and other animals.   

Microorganisms are also used as a solution to climate change. It is documented that microbial tools can provide a potential solution for climate change in the environment. These can also provide an intricate line of innovation while addressing climate change issues. Likewise, the soil microbiota brings changes to the plants, like making them more resistant to harsh conditions and increasing productivity, while also protecting plants from different climate change effects. A type of bacteria called Methanotrophs has the potential to reduce the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas, and thus lower the effects of climate change.  The different aspects of microorganisms and climate change are illustrated in Figure 2.


Figure 2. The different aspects of microorganism, climate change, their interactions and solutions.

Humans' activities produce the greenhouse gases (GHG) in large quantities and thus cause change in the climate. Microorganisms can consume these GHGs when they are required for their growth. Despite being pathogenic microorganisms that cause several diseases, other microbes are adversely affected by climate change and ultimately human activities. In the case of pathogenic microbes, climate change can lower their prevalence and hence decrease the burden of infectious diseases.    

The high temperature due to climate change can affect the long-term transport of pathogens and change their prevalence. The scenario becomes more adverse in terms of opportunistic pathogens. There are many ways in which these microbes can fight climate change. These include the conversion of carbon into organic matter, the nitrogen cycle (an important nutrient in plant growth), supporting plant growth, recycling soil nutrients, and reducing soil pollution by lowering the toxic chemicals in the soil. The development of smart agriculture approaches also lowers the effects of climate change.

Conclusion

Microorganisms are the smallest creatures that have existed since billions of years ago. These have a potential effect on humans, animals, and environments. Greater prevalence, versatile nature, dynamic physiological characteristics, rapid growth, and both beneficial and pathogenic nature make microbes an important agent of our biosphere, which cannot be neglected. Recently, climate change and its associated phenomena, i.e., global warming and greenhouse gas production, got special attention due to their substantial effects on humans. Besides plenty of other players in climate change, microorganisms are also included. Microbes have the smallest size but have a bigger effect as they directly affect humans' lives. Both positive and negative effects are identified for both climate change and microorganisms. On the one hand, the microorganisms show adaptations to climate change and thus create resistance; on the other hand, they help to overcome the negative impacts of climate change. In conclusion, microorganisms play an important role in climate change, either by producing resistance in plants or by developing adaptations.

Further reading

About the Author: Abrar Hussain is a young researcher in the field of probiotics and is pursuing his Ph.D. degree from ICCBS, University of Karachi. Mr. Hussain received his Master’s degree in chemistry/biochemistry from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. He also obtained C.T., B.Ed., and M.Ed. degrees in science education. Recently, he completed an M.Phil./MS degree in biochemistry from the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, ICCBS, University of Karachi. He is also a professional speaker and has delivered numerous lectures on different topics. Attending seminars and conferences and participating in scientific events are the markers of his enthusiasm. He has strong research skills and is able to work in a team and independently. He also trained many internship students in his laboratory. He made many scientific publications and wrote many blogs.