National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Methane-Munching Microbes Take a Bite Out of Warming


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The arm of a remotely operated vehicle collects samples of a bacteria that consumes methane gas atop the Haakon Mosby Mud Volcano in the Barents Sea above Russia.

Methane traps heat in Earth's atmosphere, so these and other specialized microbes help fight global warming by making sure much of the greenhouse gas never escapes the ocean.

Photograph courtesy AWI/IFREMER 2003; RV Polarstern/Victor 6000/Nature