Life in an Atmospheric Zoo
Journalist Carl Zimmer tells the story of the science of aerobiology
https://nautil.us/life-in-an-atmospheric-zoo-1190591/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nautilus-newsletter
The atmosphere is like an overhead ocean, filled with its own vast menagerie, known as the aerobiome. Swarms of insects, both giant and invisible from the ground, migrate for hundreds of miles. In a 2024 study, researchers determined that 9 trillion insects pass over a few hundred square miles of China every year. Spores of moss and fungi cross oceans. Bacteria and viruses rise from ocean waves and forest canopies. They can float up into the upper atmosphere. Even the clouds are alive.