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Bacteria that eat methane, a greenhouse gas, have been discovered in an Antarctic lake that has been isolated from the atmosphere for thousands of years.
Their presence could significantly reduce the potential risk of warming posed by reservoirs of gas locked up in the ice, scientists say.Scientists found the bacteria by drilling in Lake Whillans, a large body of water located 800 meters (2,600 feet) underneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. After the team successfully broke through the ice sheet in 2013, they collected water and sediment samples—deposited about 120,000 years ago—from this long-hidden lake.
Their analysis of the samples, published in Nature Geoscience, revealed bacteria that digest methane. The bacteria were in the upper lake sediment, indicating they prevent the greenhouse gas from entering the water. In other words, the Earth-heating compound methane is unable to reach the ocean and escape into the atmosphere.
Methane is far…
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