Bacteria Living in the Earth's Atmosphere
- 11 years ago
Billions of bacteria are living in the atmosphere of Earth at upwards of 30 thousand feet. Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology took a sample of air from the atmosphere of Earth and found living bacteria.
Billions of bacteria are living in the atmosphere of Earth at upwards of 30 thousand feet.
Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology took samples of air from the atmosphere of Earth and found that some of what they previously thought was dust is actually living bacteria.
They collected the samples using a NASA aircraft, and they timed it so that they could compare the contents of the atmosphere before and after a tropical storm.
17 different kinds of bacteria, as well as some fungi particles, were found in the samples.
No one is sure what the function of the bacteria is in the ecosystem of our planet, but there are theories.
E. coli was one of the kinds of bacteria found in the sample, so the clouds of bacteria might be spreading disease across continents.
Another theory is that they are somehow related to weather patterns.
The researchers wrote that “the microbiome is a dynamic and underappreciated aspect of the upper troposphere with potentially important impacts on the hydrological cycle, clouds, and climate.”
Billions of bacteria are living in the atmosphere of Earth at upwards of 30 thousand feet.
Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology took samples of air from the atmosphere of Earth and found that some of what they previously thought was dust is actually living bacteria.
They collected the samples using a NASA aircraft, and they timed it so that they could compare the contents of the atmosphere before and after a tropical storm.
17 different kinds of bacteria, as well as some fungi particles, were found in the samples.
No one is sure what the function of the bacteria is in the ecosystem of our planet, but there are theories.
E. coli was one of the kinds of bacteria found in the sample, so the clouds of bacteria might be spreading disease across continents.
Another theory is that they are somehow related to weather patterns.
The researchers wrote that “the microbiome is a dynamic and underappreciated aspect of the upper troposphere with potentially important impacts on the hydrological cycle, clouds, and climate.”