The Unseen Agents of Climate Change | Ep269: David Kirchman

Microbes rarely feature in discussions about climate change, yet they play a central role in regulating greenhouse gases through the Earth's carbon, methane and nitrogen cycles. As the climate changes, understanding these natural processes is becoming increasingly important to develop new approaches to clean energy, agriculture and emissions reduction.

This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington speaks with Professor Emeritus David Kirchman of the University of Delaware, one of the world's leading microbial ecologists and author of 'Microbes: the Unseen Agents of Climate Change.'

They explore how microbes drive the carbon, methane and nitrogen cycles, how climate change is reshaping ecosystems from permafrost to coral reefs, and how microbial science could help tackle the climate crisis, from microbial fuel cells and lower-emissions agriculture to biofuels, methane reduction and even emerging forms of carbon removal and geoengineering

Topics covered in this episode:

• The microbes shaping Earth's climate
• Ocean carbon cycle
• Methane-eating microbes
• Arctic warming impacts
• Coral reefs and climate resilience
• Low-carbon agriculture
• Microbes powering climate solutions
• Climate interventions

Leadership Circle:

Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live

Links:

• David Kirchman’s bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kirchman-5925b331/
• David’s book: Microbes, the Unseen Agents of Climate Change: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microbes-Unseen-Agents-Climate-Change/dp/019768856X
• Merlin Sheldrake on Cleaning Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-9ulSTnB4
• Sea ice melting effect on microbes article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77821-9
• Background on James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis: https://courses.seas.harvard.edu/climate/eli/Courses/EPS281r/Sources/Gaia/Gaia-hypothesis-wikipedia.pdf
• DMS: Dimethyl Sulphide
• Subscribe to our newsletter: https://cleaninguppod.substack.com/

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Intro
• 00:45 - About David Kirchman
• 05:50 - What Are Microbes?
• 15:29 - Climate Cycles & Carbon
• 23:04 - Methane Microbes
• 29:01 - Climate Change
• 34:41 - Coral Reefs
• 41:02 - Microbe Climate Solutions
• 50:10 - Climate Engineering
• 01:00:28 - Outro