Global Climate Change and Microbial Ecology: Current Scenario and Management

Microbes are part of life and they support every life-sustaining activity on the earth right from food crops production through increasing the soil fertility, helping in food processing via fermentation, and decomposition of dead animals to save environmental nuisance. Microbes support one of the biggest industries in the world (agriculture) through nutrients cycling, optimizing soil properties for better crop production, retain nutrients for plant supply and fertility, and remediate soil pollutants through bioremediation. Climate change has aggravated and disturbed various processes undertaken by soil microbes, i.e. microbial populations, diversity, processes undertaken by them, and nutrient cycles by killing them via increased temperature and soil salinity and associated problems. This chapter is an effort to comprehensively describe the benefits of microbes in the life, effects of climate change on population, associated processes, and ultimate effects on the environment.