Climate change has melted an estimated 3 trillion tons of ice in Antarctica, contributing to sea level rise, disrupting ecosystems, and -- because ice-free oceans absorb solar heat -- ratcheting up global temperatures. A group of climate experts recently warned that, even if implemented perfectly, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement will be insufficient to protect polar ice sheets.
There is one group that is doing their duty for the Antarctic. Adélie penguins are producing chemically-rich poop that may create a protective shield against warming.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki were lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be) to be working at Antarctica's Marambio Station next to a colony of 60,000 Adélie penguins when they made an unexpected discovery. They found that the ammonia gas released by the enormous amount of the penguins' guano interacted with sulfur compounds in the environment, spurring the creation of aerosols. Water vapor condensed on these airborne particles, forming a cloud that insulated the atmosphere and helped to reduce surface temperatures.
According to the paper, published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, the penguin droppings created a concentration of ammonia 1000 times higher than usual. Even after the penguins migrated from their colony, the guano deposits continued to emit ammonia, resulting in a concentration that was still more than 100 times higher than baseline.
While penguin poop might seem like an unlikely tool for mitigating climate change, guano is an amazingly useful substance. Penguins fashion their nests from layers of feces and humans have used guano for fertilizer and to make gun powder. Its buildup on Antarctic islands can be seen from space, allow researchers to discover new penguin colonies -- the fact that Adélie penguin guano is bright pink from their diet of krill probably helps.
The findings are similar to the results of a 2016 study of Canada's High Arctic. There, the team of Canadian researchers found that ammonia from seasonal seabird colonies' guano deposits contributed to significant cloud formation and a slight cooling effect.
Of course, you can't have the benefits of penguin poop without penguins: The new paper's authors emphasize the importance of protecting the birds and their Antarctic home.