Baby fish led astray by high CO2 in oceans

Date:

April 11, 2018

Source:

University of Adelaide

Summary:

Baby fish will find it harder to reach secure shelters in future acidified oceans -- putting fish populations at risk, new research has concluded.

Baby fish will find it harder to reach secure shelters in future acidified oceans -- putting fish populations at risk, new research from the University of Adelaide has concluded.

Herring larvae could benefit from an acidifying ocean

A long-term field study in a Swedish fjord shows how rising carbon dioxide levels can affect food webs and fish survival

Date:

March 29, 2018

Source:

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Summary:

Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is making the oceans more acidic. Some studies show that's bad news for fish, including commercially important species. But a new study shows that herring might be able to tolerate this change.

These strange-looking floating objects are really giant plastic test tubes called KOSMOS mesocosms that extend roughly 19 metres deep. Researchers used them to test the response of young herring to ocean acidification.

Credit: KOSMOS/GEOMAR

Coral reef experiment shows: Acidification from carbon dioxide slows growth

Ocean acidification will severely impair coral reef growth before the end of the century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unchecked

Date:

March 14, 2018

Source:

Carnegie Institution for Science

Summary:

Ocean acidification will severely impair coral reef growth before the end of the century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unchecked. The paper represents the first ocean acidification experiment in which seawater was made artificially acidic by the addition of carbon dioxide and then allowed to flow across a natural coral reef community. The acidity of the seawater was increased to reflect end-of-century projections if carbon dioxide from greenhouse gas emissions are not abated.

This is an experimental plume of carbon dioxide-enriched seawater and a dye tracer flowing across a coral reef flat in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. This study represents the first ocean acidification experiment on a natural coral reef community and provides evidence that near-future ocean acidification projections severely depressed coral reef growth.

Credit: Photograph is courtesy of Aaron Takeo Ninokawa of UC Davis.