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Cold_Baseball_432 t1_ix2kxaa wrote

Reply to comment by ChronoPsyche in is it ignorant for me to constantly have the singularity in my mind when discussing the future/issues of the future? by blxoom

Interesting. 140f for how long? I imagine this is for soil disinfection over a relatively short period of time.

I wonder what happens when the earth “bakes” at a (slightly) higher temp for an extended period of time? Does it create a pasteurizing effect? If it doesn’t kill microbes outright, how much could the higher avg temp affect metabolism?

In the case of one-shot high temps like in Death Valley that you mentioned, I imagine the top layer of microbes could get cooked but I would expect there’s probably “replenishment from a microbial reservoir deeper in the soil.

Do constant, slightly higher temps have effects that penetrate deeper? And will they penetrate deep enough to significantly damage microbial reservoirs?

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ChronoPsyche t1_ix2nlfo wrote

Those questions are beyond my quick Googling abilities lol. I think it's safe to say it's not a concern, though, as most places will not reach anywhere close to that temperature.

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