Organisms have a larger genome and size; they can feed on algae that accelerate the melting of glaciers and slow the impacts of climate change
Giant viruses found by scientists for the first time in ice and snow could help control accelerated melting of glaciers and global warming. This is the hypothesis of researchers at Aarhus University, Denmark, who published on the discovery of these organisms in a study in the scientific journal Microbiome in May.
Common viruses are about a thousand times smaller than bacteria, but the organisms identified by scientists on the surface of the ice in Greenland are larger than them (2.5 micrometers). They also have a genome more than ten times larger than other viruses.
“They could be useful for alleviating melting ice caused by algae blooms. We don’t yet know how effective it would be, but we hope to answer these questions by studying them further,” says Laura Perini from the Department of Science. Environmental Studies at Aarhus University, in a university statement.
Algae blooms on the ice during the spring and causes it to darken. As a result, the glacier’s ability to reflect the sun decreases and its melting accelerates, worsening global warming.
According to scientists, the presence of viruses in the ice could indicate that they feed on these algae, which could serve as a natural mechanism to control this process.
Recent discovery
The melting of the Greenland ice sheet in the Arctic Ocean is one of the so-called tipping points of climate change, which generates a cascade effect on the planet’s climate systems.
Higher temperatures have brought this layer closer to a critical stage, where the ice sheet can no longer recover.
As a result, it is heading for an ever-faster collapse. There are impacts, such as rising sea levels and marine currents, that can further intensify phenomena such as El Niño.
Giant viruses are a relatively recent discovery in science: they have been found for the first time in the ocean in 1981. Therefore not much is known about them, which have also been detected in soil and even in humans.
Researchers at Aarhus University are studying the interactions and role of these organisms in the ecosystem and are expected to publish a new scientific paper with more information on how they infect microalgae on the Greenland ice sheet later this year.
Source: Terra
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