Environment

Melting glaciers can release new species of bacteria, warn researchers who have analyzed ice samples taken from the Tibetan plateau. They have discovered almost 1,000 species of bacteria, many of them previously unknown. A real time bomb...

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

This is the warning issued by an international team of Chinese, Australian and Danish researchers, who have studied ice samples taken from the Tibetan plateau, discovering nearly 1,000 microbial species in their samples, around 100 of which are completely new to science.

These discoveries raise many concerns about the release of potential pathogens in the world's two most populous countries. Considering that ice covers around 10% of the earth's surface, scientists fear that bacteria buried in glaciers could be released into new environments after being carried downstream by glacial 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,” says the study.

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

(MH with FL - EVG - source: phys.org/Picture: Jennifer Latuperisa-Andresen via Unsplash)