Yet another danger from CO2 emissions, one that could become irreversible.
Trichodesmium. It’s the bacteria that’s solely responsible for the fixation of nearly 50 percent of nitrogen in the world’s oceans. A very important role for this microscopic critter. For without nitrogen fixation — or the process by which environmental nitrogen is converted to forms usable by organisms — most of life on Earth would not exist.
Now, a new study produced by USC and the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has found that human carbon emissions are set to drive this essential organism haywire. Forcing evolutionary changes in which the bacteria is unable to regulate its growth. Thus generating population explosions and die-offs that will be very disruptive to the fragile web of life in the world’s oceans.
(A Trichodesmium bloom off New Caledonia. Image source: Earth Observatory.)
Trichodesmium — A Mostly Helpful Bacteria Essential to Ocean Life
Trichodesmium is a form of cyanobacteria. It…
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