Cow burps may contribute to climate change—but it turns out penguin droppings may do the reverse.
New research shows that ammonia released from penguin colonies via their guano could actually help cool Antarctica by boosting cloud formation.
For their analysis published in Communications Earth & Environment, researchers measured air near Marambio Base between January and March 2023.
A press release explains the science: Ammonia interacts with sulfur-containing gases to generate aerosol particles that “give water vapor a surface to condense upon,” ultimately forming clouds.
These clouds can act as an insulating layer that helps lower surface temperatures and maintain sea ice cover.
It turns out that while cow burps might be a contributing factor to climate change, penguin droppings might have the opposite effect. According to recent studies, the ammonia that penguin colonies release through their guano may actually aid in cooling Antarctica by promoting the formation of clouds. Between January and March 2023, researchers measured the air near Marambio Base for their analysis, which was published in Communications Earth and Environment. Normally 10 points per trillion, the air’s ammonia concentration soared 1,000 times to 13 points per billion when winds came from the direction of a colony of 60,000 Adelie penguins five miles away.
Even after the birds left for the season, the increase persisted because the colony’s guano continued to release ammonia, which caused levels to rise 100 times higher than the baseline. The science, according to a press release, is that ammonia reacts with gases that contain sulfur to produce aerosol particles, which in turn “give water vapor a surface to condense upon,” eventually resulting in clouds. In order to keep sea ice cover and reduce surface temperatures, these clouds may serve as an insulating layer. The researchers verified as part of the study that fog did form and the aerosol particle count did rise when the wind blew out of the colony.
The Washington Post says that because the birds eat fish and krill, their waste contains a lot of nitrogen, which decomposes into ammonia, which is why their guano contains so much of it. The Post quotes lead author Matthew Boyer as saying, “There are connections between things that happen on our natural planet that we just don’t necessarily expect.”. And one of them is this. Artificial Intelligence was used to create this content. Go over our AI policy in detail. ).
