For the first time, scientists have found methane-producing microbes living near the earth’s surface, rather than in volcanic vents in the ocean floor, says the American Geophysical Union. The study “also shows the newly-discovered microbes are likely capable of using carbon dioxide to produce methane — a finding that could have implications for future carbon sequestration projects.”
The microbes were discovered at a set of freshwater springs called the Cedars in California’s Sonoma County, in water rising from deep underground. If the microbes are present elsewhere, it raises the possibility that one proposed way of mitigating climate change, by injecting carbon dioxide into the ground, could be counteracted if the microbes use carbon dioxide as fuel and create methane as a result. Methane, produced by sources that include agriculture, is a powerful greenhouse gas.
The AGU says the research also “could offer clues into how early microbes could have lived on Earth billions of years ago and if they might be present on other planets like Mars.”