Microbiologists from the Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with bioinformaticians from the Kurchatov Institute and staff from the Teberda National Park, have collected samples from a glacial lake in Dombay to study how global warming might affect the “inhabitants” of high-altitude water bodies. The researchers published their findings in the journal Current Microbiology.
According to sea-news.az that climate change is causing glaciers to melt rapidly. Even photographs taken by tourists a few years apart at the same location show that the snow and ice lines have retreated by dozens of meters. Melting glaciers feed rivers originating from high altitudes and lakes located in alpine meadows. Short summers, low water temperatures, and constant ultraviolet radiation hinder the rapid growth of living organisms in high-altitude lakes. Furthermore, meltwater from these lakes contains very low concentrations of minerals and organic matter, which severely limits the availability of nutrients for their “inhabitants.”
An increase in organic carbon concentrations leads to the growth of heterotrophic microorganisms that feed on existing organic matter. The activity of these organisms depletes oxygen in the water. Scientists have calculated that, in a worst-case scenario, the lake could become stratified into separate water layers, and oxygen in the bottom layers would be depleted. Sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea would proliferate in these layers, leading to the release of hydrogen sulfide and methane—gases that are both harmful and dangerous to the climate.
