I asked my quaintly naïve 31 yr-old music teacher if he was concerned about the recent sweltering heatwaves in Europe associated with mounting fatalities which might also endanger us when summer approaches. Without a hint of trepidation he countered that neither he nor his generational counterparts were likely to be affected in their lifetimes. Flippant detachment comes as no surprise given that most of us a carrying on our lives as if the planet is not careening into a cataclysmic catastrophe.
While we stand idly by there is another essentially hidden menace that is growing in intensity which threatens our survival and in fact that of our entire planet. Microbes that include viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae and other infinitesimally small microorganisms, all invisible to the human eye, occupy the vast majority of the tree of life on which the human presence is just a spec. Like the wealth of Elon Musk compared with the pocket change of most of us we are just an ant compared with their multitude. It’s surprising that Sir David Attenborough who has lovingly and with awesomely intimate precision documented the wondrous lives of the magnificent creatures that inhabit our planet has not yet found a way to get up close and personal with these life forms.
If he did he would be aghast at the adaptations that these small beings are making to climate change and global warming. Unlike humans, plants and animals who are finding it increasingly difficult to deal with the heat and are succumbing in droves microbes are acclimatising and thriving.
While this might be beneficial as algae are essential for our existence producing the oxygen we breathe and degrade dead plants so that we are not smothered in leaves as glaciers melt and the poles thaw the release of dormant microbes can have lethal effects in the form of virulent bacteria like anthrax and greenhouse gases like methane which could dramatically escalate planetary warming even further.
As much as we think we have the upper hand on viruses, bacteria and fungi by deploying vaccines and antibiotics to neutralise their presence as microbes mutate they might become elusively malignant finding the means to overcome our defences in ways which imperil our existence.
Will the rich with their doomsday preparation hunkered down in their faraway bunkers have all they need to defeat the microbial army and stay alive or will the wisdom that I imparted in Immune Apocalypse provide all of us with the survival strategies needed to safeguard our future and that of our planetary home? Stay tuned folks.
