Prof. Thulani Makhalanyane from Stellenbosch 肆客足球 is one of 18 leading microbiologists worldwide, representing 24 microbiology scientific societies and institutions, urging international governments to deploy microbes against climate change.
In a paper published across 14 international journals on the same day – regarded as an unprecedented accomplishment to emphasise the urgency of this call to action – the group of 18 outlines six simple microbial “vaccines" that could be fast-tracked to address the widespread impacts of climate change.
According to an international media release, the impacts of climate change are of a much bigger and more widespread scale than the COVID-19 pandemic: “Catastrophic weather events are claiming lives at an alarming rate, feeding the global population has never been harder due to loss of crop yields, and sea level rise is claiming entire nations across the Pacific".
According to Prof. Makhalanyane, they are advocating for the incorporation of microbial community data in ongoing discussions linked to the Conference of Parties (COP) and other United Nations bodies: “These agencies have advocated for special protection areas, but there is a lack of understanding regarding the potential feedbacks from microbial activities and the fact that these may lessen, or worsen, the effects of climate change," he warns.
In the case of coral reefs, for example, the symbiotic host-microbiome relationship between corals and their microbes has been replaced by pathogenic (i.e., dysbiotic) interactions. This has led to ongoing coral bleaching events and potentially the extinction of these “rainforests of the sea"' in our own lifetime.
According to the microbiologists there exists a wealth of evidence that microbes and the microbiome have untapped potential as viable climate solutions – but only if these solutions are fast-tracked and employed on a global scale.
In the instance of carbon sequestration, for example, they argue for the incorporation of microbial community data in current climate models: “These models do not consider the fact that microbial communities contribute substantially to carbon sequestration and there doesn't appear to be a plan on how to do this," Makhalanyane explains.
We furthermore lack an understanding regarding the full extent of microbial diversity in Africa's diverse and unique environments: “In order to apply the 'remedies' it is important to know what microorganisms are harboured in African ecosystems. We urgently need to expand studies on African microbiomes and this has been a focus of our research at Stellenbosch. For example, to think about the fertilizer revolution, and applications to African farmlands, we need to isolate bacteria from these soils for long term sustainable development," Makhalanyane adds.
?The list of microbial solutions the group are calling for include:
- Carbon sequestration boosters - Using microbes to help lock carbon into soils and oceans, cutting down CO? in the atmosphere and enriching soil for better crop growth.
- Methane busters - Incorporating bacteria into landfill sites to reduce the methane that litter emits. This can also be applied to livestock farms and wetlands.
- Microbial bioenergy - Using algae, yeast, sugarcane, vegetable oils and animal fats to make biofuels that replace the need for fossil fuel.
- Pollution fighters - Using microbes to breakdown the pollutants in industrial waste from construction sites, cleaning up contaminated land and water.
- Microbiome therapy - Changing the diet of cows to reduce the methane they produce.
- Fertilizer revolution - Replacing synthetic nitrogen in fertilizers with natural bacteria to improve air and water quality.
Prof. Raquel Peixoto from King Abdullah 肆客足球 of Science and Technology and president of the International Society for Microbial Ecology, says in the media release that their call to action is to recognize the urgency of addressing the climate crisis by developing an emergency framework of simple solutions.
The scientific societies and institutions involved are already working together and ready to quickly compose a “task force" to support stakeholders and facilitate the development and deployment of these solutions.
“We encourage all relevant initiatives, governments, and stakeholders to reach out to us at climate@isme-microbes.org. We are ready and willing to use our expertise, data, time, and support for immediate action," they conclude.
The paper titled “Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe" was published in the following journals simultaneously: Sustainable Microbiology, ISME Journal, mSystems, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Nature Microbiology, Nature Reviews, Microbiology, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, Nature Communications, Communications Biology, Communications Earth and Environment, npj Biodiversity, npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, npj Climate Action, npj Sustainable Agriculture.
