Scientists studying penguins in Antarctica were in for a surprise, after they accidentally got high off fumes from the birds’ poo.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that penguin guano (poo) contains huge amounts of nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas.
Professor Bo Elberling, an author of the study, said: “Penguin guano produces significantly high levels of nitrous oxide around their colonies. The maximum emissions are about 100 times higher than in a recently fertilised Danish field.
“It is truly intense – not least because nitrous oxide is 300 times more polluting than CO2.”
Besides having an effect on the climate, nitrous oxide can also act as a sedative in humans, slowing down your brain and your body’s responses.
It's often used in dental practices to sedate patients, and is also a recreational drug.
Professor Elberling explained: “After nosing about in guano for several hours, one goes completely cuckoo.
"One begins to feel ill and get a headache.
“The small nitrous oxide cylinders that you see lying in and floating around Copenhagen are no match for this heavy dose, which results from a combination of nitrous oxide with hydrogen sulphide and other gases.”
The researchers hope the findings could help improve our understanding of the effect of penguin droppings on the climate.
Profess Elberling added: “While nitrous oxide emissions in this case are not enough to impact Earth’s overall energy budget, our findings contribute to new knowledge about how penguin colonies affect the environment around them, which is interesting because colonies are generally becoming more and more widespread.”
