Microbes: Early Indicators of Climate Tipping Points

A group of scientists researching a widespread yet frequently overlooked class of microbes have discovered a climate feedback loop that might intensify global warming. However, this finding comes with a silver lining: it could also be an early warning signal. Utilizing a computer simulation, researchers from Duke University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, have demonstrated that a significant majority of global oceanic plankton, along with numerous unicellular organisms inhabiting lakes, peatlands, and other ecosystems, might reach a tipping point. Here, instead of absorbing carbon dioxide, they begin to do the opposite.