70
The marine biome is one of the largest existing biome on Earth’s surface, comprising nearly 70%. The “Census of Marine Life” estimated that 90% of microbial mass
is occupied in marine biomass. Both on the surface and deeper down in ocean, phototrophic microorganisms rely on energy. The first one absorbs sunlight while the other
one’s got energy from organic and inorganic matters buried (Jørgensen and Boetius
2007). In addition to these, the half of CO 2 fixation and half of Oxygen (O 2 ) production globally are performed by the marine phytoplankton. This highlights the importance of microbial communities in absorbing and recycling of important elements in
the atmosphere like Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), and maintaining the climate. Conversely,
if any significant change does happen in climate either due to human activities or by
the natural climate cycle, it will affect the marine microbiome and hence the climate.
On the other hand, terrestrial biomass is more than 100 folds than marine biomass. Among them, plants hold a huge proportion and perform half of the primary
net production globally (Bar-On et al. 2018). Interestingly, 1.2 × 10
30
bacterial and
archaeal cells exist on earth (Flemming and Wuertz 2019), highlighting their vital
role in sustaining the balance of life. The microbes of the terrestrial environment
also regulate the carbon stored in soil and rocks. Plants also absorb CO 2 during
photosynthesis. Alternatively, during autotrophic respiration by plants and heterotrophic respiration, CO 2 is reversed back into the atmosphere. Other climate factors
directly influence the balance like warming and aridity rate, while indirect effects
like change in the proportion of soil microbiota and CO 2 rise, again create a jeopardized climate by enhancing the global warming (Singh et al. 2010; Ballantyne et al.
2017). Climate change effect on the land will often lead to a loss in natural habitats
along with the reduction in biodiversity (Lanz et al. 2018), primarily of the microorganisms (Dai et al. 2018). The disturbed microbial balance on land ultimately
slows down the efficiency of the necessary natural processes that are originally supposed to sustain the healthy environmental system and leads to climate change.
3.6 Antimicrobial Resistance and Climate Change:
In Relationship with Food System
We are facing not only climate change, but also declining biodiversity, shortages of
fertile land, wetlands and pollution. Biodiversity of macroscopic organisms is rapidly declining because of anthropogenic activities, suggesting that the biodiversity
of host specific microorganisms of animal and plant species will also decrease.
Contrary, there is a lack of knowledge about the connections between microorganisms and anthropogenic climate change.
Although microorganisms are crucial in regulating climate change, they are
rarely the focus of climate change studies (Cavicchioli et al. 2019). We are dramatically affecting our global food production system, the quality of the air and of the
water and our exposure to infectious diseases caused by drug resistant pathogens.
Changes to natural life support systems are already impacting our health and are
projected to drive much of the global burden of infectious disease (Robinson et al.
M. Mohsin et al.
The marine biome is one of the largest existing biome on Earth’s surface, comprising nearly 70%. The “Census of Marine Life” estimated that 90% of microbial mass
is occupied in marine biomass. Both on the surface and deeper down in ocean, phototrophic microorganisms rely on energy. The first one absorbs sunlight while the other
one’s got energy from organic and inorganic matters buried (Jørgensen and Boetius
2007). In addition to these, the half of CO 2 fixation and half of Oxygen (O 2 ) production globally are performed by the marine phytoplankton. This highlights the importance of microbial communities in absorbing and recycling of important elements in
the atmosphere like Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), and maintaining the climate. Conversely,
if any significant change does happen in climate either due to human activities or by
the natural climate cycle, it will affect the marine microbiome and hence the climate.
On the other hand, terrestrial biomass is more than 100 folds than marine biomass. Among them, plants hold a huge proportion and perform half of the primary
net production globally (Bar-On et al. 2018). Interestingly, 1.2 × 10
30
bacterial and
archaeal cells exist on earth (Flemming and Wuertz 2019), highlighting their vital
role in sustaining the balance of life. The microbes of the terrestrial environment
also regulate the carbon stored in soil and rocks. Plants also absorb CO 2 during
photosynthesis. Alternatively, during autotrophic respiration by plants and heterotrophic respiration, CO 2 is reversed back into the atmosphere. Other climate factors
directly influence the balance like warming and aridity rate, while indirect effects
like change in the proportion of soil microbiota and CO 2 rise, again create a jeopardized climate by enhancing the global warming (Singh et al. 2010; Ballantyne et al.
2017). Climate change effect on the land will often lead to a loss in natural habitats
along with the reduction in biodiversity (Lanz et al. 2018), primarily of the microorganisms (Dai et al. 2018). The disturbed microbial balance on land ultimately
slows down the efficiency of the necessary natural processes that are originally supposed to sustain the healthy environmental system and leads to climate change.
3.6 Antimicrobial Resistance and Climate Change:
In Relationship with Food System
We are facing not only climate change, but also declining biodiversity, shortages of
fertile land, wetlands and pollution. Biodiversity of macroscopic organisms is rapidly declining because of anthropogenic activities, suggesting that the biodiversity
of host specific microorganisms of animal and plant species will also decrease.
Contrary, there is a lack of knowledge about the connections between microorganisms and anthropogenic climate change.
Although microorganisms are crucial in regulating climate change, they are
rarely the focus of climate change studies (Cavicchioli et al. 2019). We are dramatically affecting our global food production system, the quality of the air and of the
water and our exposure to infectious diseases caused by drug resistant pathogens.
Changes to natural life support systems are already impacting our health and are
projected to drive much of the global burden of infectious disease (Robinson et al.
M. Mohsin et al.