Researchers have discovered new microbes on retreating glaciers, hinting that climate change may lead to their release and potential future disease outbreaks.
According to experts, microorganisms have the capability to present danger spanning centuries. Modern and ancient pathogenic microbes trapped in ice could lead to epidemics or even pandemics when released.
As part of a study published in June in the journal Nature Biotechnology, scientists from Lanzhou University in China took samples from 21 glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau to evaluate the potential health risks of glaciers melting. The researchers identified 968 microbial species and 25 million protein-coding gene clusters.
They concluded that almost half (47 per cent) of the virulence factors identified are not currently well known as molecules that help bacteria to infect a host at the cellular level. This means the researchers have discovered new, potentially hazardous, microbial species that may cause disease outbreaks.
And they occur close to the two most populous countries in the world ā India and China ā where these microbes can easily be transported in the rivers that originate in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.
The global warming cataclysm
Global warming has increased the rate at which glaciers melt. Between 2000 and 2020, 85.3 per cent of 1,704 of the worldās glaciers retreated. The Tibetan Plateau contains low-latitude glaciers that are vulnerable to global warming, and glaciers in India are melting at a similar rate. This retreat will increase the volume of nutrients and microorganisms released into downstream ecosystems, posing a risk to life.
