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Microbiology must be represented at climate change talks

But Peixoto found one aspect of the meeting particularly unsettling: in all the climate discussions, microbes were effectively omitted. “We should be looking at the most important player of the equation, the microbes. [All the climate crises] are driven by microbes, disturb microbes, or can be solved by microbes”, she recalls thinking. Yet, other microbiologists were so few and far between that she didn’t encounter a single one at either of the last two COP meetings.

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References

  1. IPCC Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report (eds Core Writing Team, Lee, H. & Romero, J.) (IPCC, 2023).

  2. Cavicchioli, R. et al. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 17, 569–586 (2019).

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  3. Knowlton, N. et al. Rebuilding Coral Reefs: A Decadal Grand Challenge (International Coral Reef Society and Future Earth Coasts, 2021).

  4. Peixoto, R. S. et al. Nat. Microbiol. 7, 1726–1735 (2022).

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  1. Science journalist, Portland, OR, USA

    Virginia Gewin

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  1. Virginia Gewin
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Gewin, V. Microbiology must be represented at climate change talks.
Nat Microbiol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01534-4

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  • Published: 29 November 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01534-4

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