Life in the Extreme Environments of Our Planet under Pressure: Climate-Induced Threats and Exploitation Opportunities

In 2007, a report from the European Science Foundation on Investigating Life in Extreme Environments defined extreme environments as 'having one or more environmental parameters showing values permanently close to lower or upper limits known for life in its various forms' (CAREX, 2011). These regions can be considered at the extreme of a continuum of environmental conditions that constitute limits for life as we know it. Extreme environments show enormous diversity of microorganisms, plants and animals in various marine and terrestrial extreme environments.