MICROBIAL MISERY

Rising temperatures could push ocean plankton and other single-celled creatures toward a carbon tipping point, fueling more warming. Most of the world’s ocean plankton and many other single-celled creatures in lakes, peatlands and other ecosystems could cross a threshold where instead of soaking up CO2, they start doing the opposite because of how warming affects their metabolism. During photosynthesis, they soak up carbon dioxide and when they eat, they release it. The warmer it gets, the more mixotrophs rely on eating food rather than making their own via photosynthesis. Doing so, they shift the balance between carbon in and carbon out.

today.duke.edu/2023/06/little-known-microbes-could-help-predict-climate-tipping-points