Page 271 - Microbial methane cycling in a warming world From biosphere to atmosphere Michiel H in t Zandt

In all of these areas, microorganisms have major roles in both causing and mitigating climate effects. Where more knowledge is at the basis of understanding and acting, a more active participation in the climate discussion is needed to raise awareness and to increase the impact.
Figure 4. The five major areas for improving sustainability. Challenges for the future include: How do we design and manage cities? How do we power ourselves? How do we produce, distribute and consume food? How do we help nature to thrive? How can we secure the human population in a world of finite resources? Adapted from overshootday.org.
The Earth has been and will always be a microbial planet. Microorganisms will likely exist well beyond any future extinction event and continue to shape the environment (Cavicchioli et al. 2019). If we, however, want to have a future on this planet as well, we need to save the planet so it can support our needs in the future. As phrased excellently by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference: “It’s not just about endangered species of animals. We ourselves are an endangered species” (Tenenbaum 2005). Initiatives such as the net-zero emissions target for 2050 are an absolute necessity in this context (Barrett 2020). Still, before that time, there are many more behavioral changes we need to make and implement to secure our future. A better integration of environmental and (micro)biological science in society is therefore a crucial task.
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