The scoop on the poop: What penguin poo is telling us about climate change?

What can images of penguin poo from space tell us about climate change you might be wondering?

Well, according to a new study, they can give scientists some important clues.

A study published in Current Biology by a group of researchers from the USA used satellite images to track the changing colour of Antarctic Adélie penguin poo over the past 30 years.

What they discovered has given scientists valuable new clues about how climate change is affecting Antarctica's wildlife and food web.

Scientists say that the colour of penguin poo can reveal what penguins have been eating.

Pink or reddish poo means the penguins mostly ate krill (tiny shrimp-like animals), while whiter poo means they ate more fish.

By tracking the colour of the poo from satellites in space, scientists found that over the last 30 years penguins diets have changed depending on how much sea ice is nearby.

When there was more sea ice, penguins ate more fish. However, when there is less sea ice, they eat more krill.

The scientists found that when sea ice changed, penguins' diets changed too. Over time, these changes were also linked to changes in penguin populations.

The study suggests that climate change is worsening the diets of the Antarctic Adélie penguins.

Although krill is a suitable food source for penguins, fish is their preferred food.

However, decreasing sea ice and warmer waters caused by climate change mean that there are fewer Antarctic silverfish for penguins to eat.

Scientists also believe that the study shows not only how penguins are being affected but also how climate change is reshaping Antarctica's food web and affecting the region's entire ecosystem.

And all of this was discovered using satellites in space.

"The fact that we can figure out what something is eating from a satellite is pretty incredible," said Dr Casey Youngflesh, an assistant professor at Clemson University, South Carolina, in the US, and the study's lead author.

He added, "Satellites enabled us to do something that would otherwise be impossible,"

Pretty remarkable, right?