Global Warming: Beyond the Polar Bears

Abstract

Global warming has been a hot topic in today’s society; no pun intended. If the Earth continues to warm at the current rate, life in all forms will change drastically, (Root et al. 2003). Only a few consequences of global warming are given significant media attention. However, scientists are preforming more research regarding outcomes that may not be as eye-catching. Dr. Mostafa Elshahed is a research microbiologist who is a professor at Oklahoma State University. In his research paper, “Effect of warming and drought on grassland microbial communities,” he discusses the effects of global warming on the soil microbiome, which is all of the microorganisms including bacteria, archaea, and fungi that habitat the soil. Dr. Elshahed became a microbiologist after he changed his career. “I worked as a pharmacist for two years and then I got bored to death, so I decided to go back to research and microbiology was one of the subjects I liked as an undergrad. I started looking at different fields of microbiology and taking different courses and I really liked the field of microdiversity and the discovery of new microbes.”