Although some harmful types of bacteria are associated with diseases, microbes play an important role in maintaining balance on the planet's surface, as well as in the depths of the oceans.

Despite being tiny organisms, they are not visible to the naked eye and require extreme precision to study them well, but they play a vital role in various ecosystems, even in the oceanic ecosystem.

And what many do not know is that microbes constitute 98% of the biomass of the world's oceans, as they provide more than half of the world's oxygen, and they have a significant role in mitigating the effects of climate change through their interactions.

An important element in climate models

Microbial interactions play an important role in biogeochemical cycles, including carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles, making them somewhat related to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, positioning them as a crucial element in climate change models.

Reactions decrease in the depths

Many global studies have revealed the effects of temperature on the formation of microbial communities. An international team of scientists uncovered microbial interactions deep below the surface, illustrating how ocean ecosystems work. They published their findings in "Nature Communications" in January 2024.

Previous studies focused on microbial community interactions in surface waters, but this study reveals interactions from surface waters to the depths of the ocean, including microbial communities such as picoyukariotic, copepods, and bacteria. The researchers found that interactions among microbial communities decrease in the depths of the ocean. This study aids in predicting the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, but the most important question remains: How?

Production and consumption!

Marine microbes play a crucial role in producing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide when breaking down organic matter, and they also consume these gases in their growth processes. They use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis, undertaken by certain species like cyanobacteria, or methanotrophic nutrition, where they consume methane, and finally, nitrous oxide reduction.

Microbes play indispensable roles in our lives and for the health of our planet. Therefore, studying them is vital and enhances scientists' understanding of the events happening around them within the climate scene.