Arctic Bacteria Point to Possible Life on Mars; Potential to Mitigate Climate Change
04.11.2010 - Atmosphere & Space, Land & Geology, Ice & Snow, Flora & Fauna, Arctic
As reported in findings published in the journal Nature, McGill University microbiologist Dr. Lyle White discovered two kinds of bacteria that feed off methane and breathe something other than oxygen at the Lost Hammer Spring on Axel Heiberg Island in the Nunavut Territory – an extreme subzero and salty environment one would not expect bacteria to live in. According to Dr. Dale Andersen, a scientist from the California-based SETI Institute, discovering such bacteria suggests that similar bacterial life could exist on Mars.
The environmental conditions in the Canadian Arctic are similar to conditions on Mars. Recent NASA data suggest that Mars has areas with methane and frozen water within the same temperature range as the Lost Hammer Spring. If such bacteria can survive at the Lost Hammer Spring here on Earth, then Mars may able to support such life, the thinking goes.
National Research Council (NRC) Canada microbiologist Dr. Charles Greer believes that methane-eating bacteria may also play a useful role in reducing the impacts of climate change. "As the temperature increases, permafrost in the North is melting. If the land becomes water saturated, carbon trapped in the permafrost is more likely to be emitted as methane than carbon dioxide,” according to Greer. "Microorganisms that consume methane could have a special role to play in mitigating methane emissions and their impact on climate change, especially if we can find a way to increase their activity."
