Climate change and environmental pollution are two interconnected global challenges that have significant implications for human health, biodiversity, and the planet's ecosystems. On one hand, many types of environmental pollution can contribute to climate change. Human activities including industrial and energy production, transportation, and agricultural activities, emit large amounts of GHGs such as CO2, CH4, N2O, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are considered major causes of the global climate challenge. On the other hand, climate change can also affect the process of environmental pollution. For instance, rising temperatures can exacerbate the formation of ground-level ozone and other air pollutants, while changing precipitation patterns can affect water quality and increase the risk of water pollution. In addition, changing weather patterns can impact the distribution of pollutants and their effects on ecosystems and human health.
Involved in many processes that help to mitigate the impacts of climate change and pollution, microbes are essential for maintaining the health of the planet's ecosystems and are vital in the carbon cycle. The efficiencies of carbon transformation, fixation, and release processes, are closely related to microbial regulation and their ecological roles in different carbon pools, thus unraveling the structure and function dynamics of microbial communities, where they serve as biomarkers and indicators, can help better understand and predict these processes. Microorganisms also contribute to creating clean alternatives to fossil fuels. They are adopted in the production of bioenergy and value-added products, such as biogas, biohydrogen, bioethanol, and biobutanol, which facilitates the reduction of carbon emissions, as well as the development of the low-carbon economy. Besides their direct roles in carbon sequestration, microorganisms take an indispensable part in the bioremediation of hazardous substances, via degradation, absorption, detoxification, host-microbiome interactions, and microbial-based materials, which also significantly contributed to alleviating GHG emissions.
However, limited knowledge of the response mechanisms and practical approaches required to harness microbial solutions for climate change mitigation is still a challenge that needs creative insight and problem-solving from multiple disciplines. The knowledge contributed by experts in this Research Topic will provide insight into the biological, ecological, and practical novel solutions to climate change and environmental pollution with microbial-associated approaches. In the future, this information will enlighten bioremediation and bioenergy industries with biotechnology innovation.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts (Original Research articles, Reviews, and Opinions) related, but not limited to the following topics:
1) Molecular mechanisms of microbes in response to climate change and its associated environmental pollution
2) Newley screened, genetically modified microorganisms and their metabolites used in clean production, pollution control, and carbon emission reduction
3) Microbial-mediated carbon capture, sequestration, and storage techniques
4) Microbial community and meta-omics approach for function exploration in coping with climate change and environmental pollution
Please note that Frontiers in Microbiology does not welcome descriptive research, which only has microbial community analyses without hypotheses and mechanistic testing. A community-related functional exploration should have experimental or multi-method verification.
Climate change and environmental pollution are two interconnected global challenges that have significant implications for human health, biodiversity, and the planet's ecosystems. On one hand, many types of environmental pollution can contribute to climate change. Human activities including industrial and energy production, transportation, and agricultural activities, emit large amounts of GHGs such as CO2, CH4, N2O, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are considered major causes of the global climate challenge. On the other hand, climate change can also affect the process of environmental pollution. For instance, rising temperatures can exacerbate the formation of ground-level ozone and other air pollutants, while changing precipitation patterns can affect water quality and increase the risk of water pollution. In addition, changing weather patterns can impact the distribution of pollutants and their effects on ecosystems and human health.
Involved in many processes that help to mitigate the impacts of climate change and pollution, microbes are essential for maintaining the health of the planet's ecosystems and are vital in the carbon cycle. The efficiencies of carbon transformation, fixation, and release processes, are closely related to microbial regulation and their ecological roles in different carbon pools, thus unraveling the structure and function dynamics of microbial communities, where they serve as biomarkers and indicators, can help better understand and predict these processes. Microorganisms also contribute to creating clean alternatives to fossil fuels. They are adopted in the production of bioenergy and value-added products, such as biogas, biohydrogen, bioethanol, and biobutanol, which facilitates the reduction of carbon emissions, as well as the development of the low-carbon economy. Besides their direct roles in carbon sequestration, microorganisms take an indispensable part in the bioremediation of hazardous substances, via degradation, absorption, detoxification, host-microbiome interactions, and microbial-based materials, which also significantly contributed to alleviating GHG emissions.
However, limited knowledge of the response mechanisms and practical approaches required to harness microbial solutions for climate change mitigation is still a challenge that needs creative insight and problem-solving from multiple disciplines. The knowledge contributed by experts in this Research Topic will provide insight into the biological, ecological, and practical novel solutions to climate change and environmental pollution with microbial-associated approaches. In the future, this information will enlighten bioremediation and bioenergy industries with biotechnology innovation.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts (Original Research articles, Reviews, and Opinions) related, but not limited to the following topics:
1) Molecular mechanisms of microbes in response to climate change and its associated environmental pollution
2) Newley screened, genetically modified microorganisms and their metabolites used in clean production, pollution control, and carbon emission reduction
3) Microbial-mediated carbon capture, sequestration, and storage techniques
4) Microbial community and meta-omics approach for function exploration in coping with climate change and environmental pollution
Please note that Frontiers in Microbiology does not welcome descriptive research, which only has microbial community analyses without hypotheses and mechanistic testing. A community-related functional exploration should have experimental or multi-method verification.