Penguin poo melts the snow in Antarctica

A new study shows that penguins’ poo is inadvertently accelerating snowmelt in Antarctica.

As temperatures rise across Antarctica, the habitats of snow algae along the coasts are also expanding.

Green snow absorbs 40 per cent more energy from sunlight than pure, white snow – which increases the rate of melting – and the penguins are helping to speed up the process.

´Penguin guano acts as a fertiliser… nourishing these dense blooms of green snow algae,´ notes Alia Khan, a cryosphere biogeochemist and the study’s lead author, in a comment.

As penguins move closer to the South Pole due to changing living conditions, there is a risk that they will fertilise further areas and expand the algae’s habitat – something researchers have not yet taken into account in their forecasts.

^{Cover photo: Penguins walk over their own droppings and spread them across the snow cover.}