Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change

Abstract

In the Anthropocene, in which we now live, climate change is impacting most life on Earth. Microorganisms support the existence of all higher trophic life forms. To understand how humans and other life forms on Earth (including those we are yet to discover) can withstand anthropogenic climate change, it is vital to incorporate knowledge of the microbial 'unseen majority'. We must learn not just how microorganisms affect climate change (including production and consumption of greenhouse gases) but also how they will be affected by climate change and other human activities. This Consensus Statement documents the central role and global importance of microorganisms in climate change biology. It also puts humanity on notice that the impact of climate change will depend heavily on responses of microorganisms, which are essential for achieving an environmentally sustainable future.

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Affiliated Institutions

• University of California, Berkeley US
• Australian Institute of Marine Science AU
• The University of Melbourne AU
• Marche Polytechnic University IT
• California Institute of Technology US
• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa US
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography US
• University of Liverpool GB
• Montana State University US
• Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung DE
• The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston US
• Norwegian University of Life Sciences
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory US
• UNSW Sydney AU
• University of Amsterdam NL
• Oregon State University US
• University of Georgia US
• University of Edinburgh GB
• University of California, Irvine US
• Marine Biological Laboratory US
• ETH Zurich CH
• University of California, San Diego US
• The Ohio State University US
• Georgia Institute of Technology US
• Western Sydney University AU
• University of Southern California US
• Berkeley Public Health Division US
• University of Tasmania AU
• Technische Universität Braunschweig DE
• University of Vermont US
• University of Alberta CA

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