What Poop Gives a Shit About!
Every year, migratory seabirds decorate the rocks of Arctic nations with their guano— or poop— as they nestle in for the summer. And that high volume of ammonia-rich poop, it turns out, actually has a slight cooling effect on the atmosphere, researchers report today in Nature Communications. Using model simulations collective with summertime observations of the atmosphere around Nunavut in Canada, the team found that the emissions of ammonia from guano unleash summertime bursts of particles in the atmosphere. Once it goes airborne, the ammonia interacts with sulfuric acid and water, making particles that become the nuclei around which water condenses, giving birth to clouds. Clouds play a complex role in the climate, but the low-lying clouds formed by the ammonia reflect received sunlight and eventually have a chilling effect on the region, the researchers found. It’ s a substantial regional effect across the Arctic, they note— but not enough to counter its current rapid warming( i. e. global warming).
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