Environment

Melting glaciers can release new species of bacteria, warn researchers who analyzed ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau. They discovered nearly 1,000 species of bacteria, many of which are unknown. A real time bomb...

Glaciers are a real source of concern for researchers, and not only because of the rise in sea levels caused by their melting. The global warming that threatens the world's great glaciers could also release viruses and bacteria trapped for thousands of years in the ice and potentially dangerous for the existence of life on Earth.

This is the meaning of the warning issued by an international team of Chinese, Australian and Danish researchers, who studied ice taken from the Tibetan Plateau, discovering in their samples nearly 1,000 microbial species, a hundred of which are completely new to science.

The findings raise concerns about the release of potential pathogens in the world’s two most populous countries. Considering that ice covers about 10% of the Earth’s surface, scientists fear that bacteria buried in glaciers could be released and found in new environments after being carried downstream by meltwater.

“Modern and ancient pathogenic microbes trapped in ice could lead to local epidemics and even pandemics […] These microorganisms may carry new virulence factors that make plants, animals and humans vulnerable,” the study states.

The Tibetan Plateau, known as the “water tower of Asia,” source of several of the world’s largest rivers (Yangtze, Yellow, Ganges and Brahmaputra) and irrigating highly populated areas, is a particularly sensitive area. "The release of potentially dangerous bacteria could affect the two most populous countries in the world: China and India," the authors of the study add.

(MH with FL - EVG - source: phys.org/Picture: Daniele Salutari via Unsplash)