Oceanographers at the University of California have discovered that carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the oceans is increasing the size of fish ears.

In their testing, they measured the otoliths, the ear structure in fish made up of minerals.

In the first experiments, the water had 6 times the current amount of carbon dioxide, and the fish grew otoliths 15 to 17 percent larger than normal size.

In their next tests, they reduced the CO₂ in the water to 3.5 times the current level. This amount is similar to the concentration possible in the year 2100, at its current rate of distribution in the atmosphere. These fish had otoliths with 7 to 9 percent increase.

Oceanographer David M. Checkley, involved in the study, said: “An important observation is that the effect of CO2 in atmosphere, and therefore in the ocean, includes not only (global) warming and making the ocean more acidic. There are other effects on the biology and ecology that merit study.”

They are not yet sure if this is positive or negative, and further studies will be done to track the progress.

The study is published in the journal Science.

Read the full story here.

Image courtesy of divebums.com

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