Methane is formed under the absence of oxygen by natural biological and physical processes, e.g. in the sea floor. It is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the activity of microorganisms, this gas is inactivated before it reaches the atmosphere and unfolds its harmful effects on Earth’s climate. Researchers have now demonstrated that these microorganisms are quite picky about their diet.

Climate change and extreme weather events grab the headlines, but there is another, lesser known, global change underway on land, in the seas, and in the air: acidification.