However, a team of researchers didn’t go to the remote site for ancient fossils. What they did next would help researchers better understand—and possibly prepare—for what seems almost inevitable amid Earth’s warming temperatures. The prevailing concern is that thawing permafrost will release larger numbers of microbes, which will contribute to a vicious, closed loop of gas emissions. In addition to breaking down organic matter, microbes also consume water to use for the fatty membranes that encase all living cells. They then incubated their Alaskan samples within a temperature range of 39 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit.