In December 2022, atmospheric science PhD student Matthew Boyer traveled to Marambio Station in Antarctica to study penguin guano. His research revealed that ammonia from the droppings of around 60,000 penguins aids cloud formation, potentially insulating the continent and countering global warming effects. However, climate change threatens penguin populations, which may alter this dynamic and lead to increased warming. Understanding this relationship will refine climate models, addressing how diminishing and growing penguin species affect Antarctic ecology and global sea level rise.
"When you arrive, you have boxes that have been sometimes sitting outside in Antarctica for a month or two in a cold warehouse. And we're talking about sensitive instrumentation."
"That's the impact of this paper. That will inform the models better, because we know that some species are decreasing, some are increasing, and that's going to change a lot down there in many different ways."
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