CEAB-CSIC researchers have published a scientific article that helps to understand the intercontinental dispersion of harmful microorganisms through the atmosphere. It proposes a key role of air currents in the intertropical zone in this phenomenon and evidence that its becoming more acute due to the effects of climate change, deforestation and other consequences of human activity.
The study “Understanding atmospheric intercontinental dispersal of harmful microorganisms”* compiles the scope of the problem of the global dispersal of harmful microorganisms through the upper layers of the atmosphere. It confirms that the atmosphere -specifically the free troposphere- acts as a highway for many microbes and emphasizes the mechanisms that facilitate it.
The work combines microbiology and the dynamics of the Earth system and emphasizes the importance of the intertropical convergence zone in the phenomenon. In this area, above and below the equator, there are strong updrafts of warm air and the winds from the northern and southern hemispheres meet. It is the key area for this massive dispersal of microorganisms through the atmosphere.
The process happens as follows: the strong ascending wind that occurs in this strip of the Earth sucks in large masses of aerosolized particles – mainly marine, fire and desert dust. Many microorganisms adhere to them and ascend to the free troposphere (their characteristics and adaptation mechanisms allow it). Once there, they can travel thousands of kilometers and disperse throughout the world. They can do it thanks to the constant and long-range air currents that converge in the upper layers of upper air and the massive injection that occurs in the intertropical zone.
Read more at Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
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