Melting Glaciers May Contain Dangerous Bacteria Into Rivers, Lakes [Study]

Scientists warned that climate change-related glacier melting had raised the possibility of massive bacterial releases.

According to the BBC, experts assert that potentially harmful infections are among the thousands of germs that might escape into rivers and lakes.

Melting Glaciers Releases Bacteria

Researchers from Aberystwyth University said per Science Alert that their work demonstrated the need for swift action to halt global warming to avoid its negative impacts on both people and animals. They studied meltwater from eight glaciers in Europe, North America, and two places in Greenland.

Glaciers are large, slowly moving ice masses formed over hundreds or thousands of years. As a result of the seas melting at an alarming rate owing to global warming, sea levels are increasing.

The study's authors estimated that during the following 80 years, more than 100,000 tons of bacteria and other microbes might be discharged into the environment. This is the same as every single cell in the human body.

Microbiologist Dr. Arwyn Edwards claims that the study brought to light for the first time the enormous size of microorganisms that are present on Earth's surface or imprisoned inside its glaciers.

He asserted that the rate at which the glaciers are melting due to continued global warming is closely correlated with the number of germs released.

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The team's projections are based on a "moderate" warming scenario created by the IPCC, a global organization of climate specialists. This would result in an average global temperature increase of 2 to 3 C by 2100.

Water Crisis a Threat?

Dr. Edwards believes that increased bacteria migration into rivers, lakes, fjords, and seas might considerably influence water quality. However, the microbial tap would be turned off within a few decades when the glaciers melted.

Additionally, he pointed out that glacial melt supplies water to 200,000 noteworthy catchments worldwide, some of which are incredibly vulnerable ecosystems with undeveloped organic carbon and nutrient stocks.

He said hundreds of different microbes, some of which can be harmful to humans, might be found living inside or growing on glaciers.

But according to glaciologist Dr. Tristram Irvine-Fynn, further research is still needed.

"Over the coming decades, the forecast 'peak water' from Earth's mountain glaciers means we need to improve our understanding of the state and fate of ecosystems on the surface of glaciers," Irvine-Fynn said in a statement.

This month, the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment published the research findings from the Aberystwyth scientists.

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