Scientists may have identified a new indicator of a climate change tipping point – marine microorganisms.
A team of scientists from Duke University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, used a computer simulation to study how global warming impacts the metabolism of the world’s ocean plankton and other aquatic single-celled creatures.
Their findings showed that when temperatures crossed a certain threshold, these cells stop absorbing carbon and instead start emitting it.
“They're like ‘switches’ that could either help reduce climate change or make it worse,” said co-author Holly Moeller, an assistant professor at the University of California.
The team focused on a group of tiny organisms called mixotrophs, which forms most of the plankton in the ocean. They’re also common in lakes, peatlands, damp soils and beneath fallen leaves.
These aquatic organisms are relevant because they are able to obtain nutrients from sunlight as well as from...