Rising global temperatures could transform widespread microbial communities around the world from carbon sinks to carbon emitters, potentially triggering tipping points in climate change, a new study reveals. The findings were recently published in the journal of the British Ecological Society. Functional Ecology .

• New research finds that in a warming climate, ocean plankton and other single-celled organisms, known as mixotrophic microbes, may change from carbon sinks to carbon emitters.
• The research also found that changes in the behavior of these organisms just before they switch could act as an early warning signal for climate change tipping points.
• However, increasing levels of environmental nutrients, such as nitrogen from agricultural wastewater, can dull these warning signals.

(BRITISH ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY)

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