I'm Elise Hugh. You're listening to TED Talks Daily. We're about to hear a talk about bacteria and fungi because they're here to help. No, really, microbes have been around ever since life on Earth started and they keep all living creatures and the planet in balance. In this admittedly geeky talk from TEDx UC Irvine in 2020, microbial ecologist Steve

Allison sheds light on how these invisible organisms can solve huge problems like climate

change and food insecurity.

Microbes are everywhere.

They live in the air, the ocean, the soil, and on our bodies. Lots of them.

Ever since life on Earth began, microbes have kept planetary chemical cycles in balance.

Today, humans are altering that balance and changing the climate by emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

But microbes might be able to help us with our climate problem.

After all, microbes are Earth's original and most adaptable inhabitants.

Now, I know that not everyone is so enamored with microbes.

My biology students tell me that they usually think of pathogen when they hear the word

microbe. And I know we're in the middle of a global viral pandemic. But you should keep in mind

that far less than 1% of microbial diversity is actually pathogenic to humans. In fact,

most of the microbes we encounter are beneficial. There are trillions of bacteria, fungi,

and viruses living in and on us right now, more of them than human cells in the body.

They help us digest our food, protect us from disease, and maybe even choose our mates.

Microbiologists call this assemblage of tiny interlopers the human microbiome.

We now know that there are microbiomes in basically every environment.

In the same way that they help our human bodies stay healthy,

microbiomes in water, soil, and air are critical for planetary health.

For example, cyanobacteria in the ocean carry out

photosynthesis and provide a large fraction of the planet's breathable oxygen. Even though they're

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