The effect of climate change on terrestrial extreme environments, their microbiology and the implications for planetary habitability

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Changes to Earth's climate driven by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are already having widespread effects on the environment. Some predicted changes such as rising temperatures, longer more pronounced heat waves and droughts are greatly impacting the planet, not least the environments, and the life they contain, that were already considered extreme by our standards. Many of these environments are now starting to resemble those we observe on other planetary bodies, especially Mars, a planet which itself has undergone a global climatic change. This PhD project will study extreme environments on the Earth undergoing climatic changes using orbital imagery and in-situ sample analysis, to understand the chemical, mineralogical and biological effects, and the implications of this to understanding the habitability potential of similar sites on Mars and our ability to detect past biosignatures in them