Our newest weapon against climate change: Little mushrooms
Those guys are hard at work saving the planet.
New technologies like solar panels are likely our best bet
if we hope to reduce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. But future
generations may have just gained an unlikely, totally organic ally in
the fight against climate change: Fungi.
A new study published in Nature found that common ectomycorrhizal (EEM) fungi — which can produce edible mushrooms
— may help dramatically reduce the amount of carbon released into the
atmosphere by decaying matter. Researchers from the University of Texas,
Boston University, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
discovered that EEM fungi help lock carbon into the soil. Bryan Walsh at TIME has an excellent explanation of the process:
At the same time, the fungi also convert nitrogen into nutrients for the living plants they've attached themselves to. (Plants are important since they produce, you know, oxygen.) EEM fungi essentially protect plants, slowing the process of carbon decay and release considerably.
In fact, soil samples collected by researchers showed that the fungi were able to alter how much carbon was released into the air by a staggering 70 percent.
SEE ALSO: How to keep warm outside: 5 science-based tips
That's a significant figure, and one that could theoretically move the needle in existing climate change models. Not bad for something we tend to think of as a pizza topping.
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Plants
sequester carbon dioxide, but when they die, that carbon enters the
soil — a lot of it. Globally, soil is the biggest single terrestrial
reservoir of carbon, far more than the amount of carbon contained in
living things and in the atmosphere combined. (On a planetary scale, the
oceans hold by far the most carbon.) As the dead plant matter is broken
down by microbes in the soil, that carbon is released back into the
air. The rate at which that carbon leaves the soil can obviously have a
major impact on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, which in turn
helps drive climate change. [TIME]
That's
where mycorrhizal fungi come in. The microbes that break down plant
matter need nitrogen found in the soil in to function. EEM fungi, which
typically attach themselves to the roots of plants, compete with these
microorganisms for nitrogen and steal it away.SEE ALSO: Why did 100,000 dead bats reportedly fall out of the sky in Australia?At the same time, the fungi also convert nitrogen into nutrients for the living plants they've attached themselves to. (Plants are important since they produce, you know, oxygen.) EEM fungi essentially protect plants, slowing the process of carbon decay and release considerably.
In fact, soil samples collected by researchers showed that the fungi were able to alter how much carbon was released into the air by a staggering 70 percent.
SEE ALSO: How to keep warm outside: 5 science-based tips
That's a significant figure, and one that could theoretically move the needle in existing climate change models. Not bad for something we tend to think of as a pizza topping.
View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week
More from The Week:
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