Microbial Communities in Glacial Environments: Key Players in Cryosphere Carbon Cycling and the Emergence of CECs

As the wrath of climate change becomes more pronounced, all the spheres are directly influenced, based on the different feedback processes that act upon them. Our cold cryosphere is ascertained to be affected gravely, provided that, the gradual heating of Earth’s surface causes the melting of glaciers, receding ice sheets, and changes in the structure of microbial communities that inhabit it. With a striking melt rate of ~780 Gt yr−1, increasing global temperature hinders the availability of freshwater from the meltwater, produces profound effects on biodiversity and microbial communities, and changes the delivery pattern of Organic Carbon at local and regional scales. An essential contributor to the regulation of OC is attributed to the microbial assemblages that thrive in such environments. In the current context, the impact of forthcoming peak melt is discussed concerning the glacial environment, carbon dynamics, and, the emergence of CECs in our cryosphere. Microbes are dualistically perceived- friend and foe. They play various roles in the spectrum of every sphere that we now know of. Several microbial species such as cyanobacteria and blue-green alga perform a noteworthy process of converting captured CO2 to organic matter. Other varieties of microbes perform the act of decomposition of OC, maintaining a synchronous cycle over the glaciers; impacting its identity of being a collective source or a sink of carbon dioxide. These microbes can also be used to alter the fate of CECs by specific processes to offset their toxicity. The following review aims to highlight the significance of such a community structure and the imbalance that climate change could potentially induce.