Climate feedbacks and methane cycling in Arctic lakes: enzymes to atmosphere

The recent increase in atmospheric methane is attributed to an imbalance between microbial production and degradation. Methane emissions from warming Arctic lakes are an important climatic feedback loop. Alongside warming, the aquatic organic carbon and the supply of rare earth elements, including lanthanides from glacial dust, are also changing. The discovery of lanthanum-dependent enzymes in methane-consuming bacteria implicates its potential role in methane cycling. This team will map the impact of organic carbon and lanthanides on the Arctic methane cycle, from the genes involved to the impact on Greenland's lakes.