The study, published a few days ago in the scientific journal “Current Biology”, revealed that:
“Mushrooms eat more than a third of the world’s annual fossil fuel (petroleum) emissions”, stressing that these organisms “represent hope for the conservation and recovery of carbon from the atmosphere”. Mushrooms absorb about 36% of global fossil fuel emissions. “That’s enough to offset the annual carbon pollution from China (the world’s largest carbon emitter).” Each year, plants pump around 13 gigatons of carbon dioxide around the world into fungi that live underground.
What is the role of these plants?
In this context, Sandra Suleiman, a researcher specializing in fungal sciences at the Lebanese University, said in an exclusive interview with Sky News Arabia that “underground fungal networks are constantly exposed to human activity through many methods, such as agriculture, mining and industry.”
“There is no doubt that this interference takes a heavy toll,” Suleiman said.
The researcher stressed the importance of the presence of these fungi, describing them as “the reservoir of carbon under the surface of the earth”. She added:
“Certain fungi are known to grow around the tips of plant roots, forming a close symbiotic relationship with plants and their surrounding roots, one of the oldest foundations of life on Earth.” “About half a billion years ago, these mycorrhizal fungi provided plants with mineral nutrients such as phosphorus, in exchange for the sugars the plants produce.” “Plants make this sugar from carbon dioxide in the air, which means fungi are the carbon bank growing underground.”
The researcher focused on the role of fungi in cleaning the atmosphere, explaining that they are:
“Biological realm below the Earth’s surface”. “Mushrooms superficially resemble plants in that they move very slowly.” “Sometimes it’s like the animals you share with, who need to find food and use chemicals in their metabolism, rather than synthesizing nutrients from sunlight and carbon dioxide. carbon.”
Climate benefits
The specialist explained that mushrooms have “many benefits as a source of food and medicine, although they are sometimes considered a source of poisoning”.
“Mushrooms fight climate change and man-made problems.” “Mushrooms supply the plants surrounding tree trunks with minerals that tree roots cannot absorb, in exchange for supplying them with sugars from those plants.”
“We must not disrupt the ancient life-sustaining systems in the soil that limit global warming and fuel the ecosystems we depend on. These networks of fungi are essential to the biodiversity and health of our planet.”
The researcher highlighted the importance of using mycelium (a network of fine white threads that provide food for fungi to grow) to speed up the process of modifying and transforming plastic materials in modern laboratories.
And she felt that such uses “constitute a breakthrough in overcoming man-made problems in climate change”.
Suleiman concluded his speech to “Sky News Arabia”, emphasizing that “the world of mushrooms will create an effective revolution in the future”.
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