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Leafcutter ants are building wind powered air conditioning systems and compost systems into their farms and factories to flush out millions of tons of greenhouse gases.

Ants in the genus Atta cut leaves to feed a colony of mushroom that they then feed on. Their underground farms and compost piles can become so dense that they produce as much greenhouse gas as manmade wastewater treatment plants and cow farms.

Too much CO2, and the ants will asphyxiate and die, so leafcutter ants developed a wind-powered air conditioning, which uses turrets: big cone shaped mounds of hollowed out clay, to flush out warm CO2 and replace it with oxygen. These vents, reminiscent of factory chimneys, ensures that the up to 5 million workers in each colony have fresh air. It's estimated that millions of tons of CO2 are flushed out of leafcutter ant nests alone every year.

Some researchers are looking to incorporate leafcutter ant designs into human HVAC systems, to clean and to cool houses with airflow. And some new climate models are trying to account for the spread of leafcutter ants as warming temperatures let them spread north.