Methane and Climate Change: Arctic Bacteria Might Eat Methane?

Methane build-up in the Arctic is one of scientists' major concerns regarding warming Arctic temperatures. Along with melting poles and threatened species, the fear is that carbon locked in the soil will release as carbon dioxide and methane.

But there might be some hope in this area. That is, Princeton University researchers and others recently published a report in The ISME Journal saying that bacteria that eat methane might allow most Arctic soil to absorb, not release, methane. According to their findings, this ability increases as temperatures rise.
It turns out that soils with low carbon content -- which are about 87 percent of those in permafrost regions around the world -- remove methane from the atmosphere and step up their ability as the temperature rises.

For instance, in three years of study in Canada's Arctic on Axel Heiberg Island, a site with little carbon absorbed more methane as the ground temperature changed from 32 to 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit. According to projections, if Arctic temperatures increase from 41 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years, soil with little carbon could absorb methane by an increase of five to 30 times, according to a release.

This great ability comes from a species in the area that is not yet known. They're related to the bacterial group called Upland Soil Cluster Alpha, which are the main bacteria consuming methane in carbon-poor Arctic soil. After consuming the methane, the bacteria produce methanol, which they process immediately. They take in any carbon for growth or respiration--it stays in their cells or is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the release said.

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