Increased levels of carbon dioxide in fish species causes something called the drunken fish phenomenon, or hypercapnia. It occurs when too much CO2 builds up in a fish’s body, making it unable to function normally.
University of New South Wales climate scientist Ben McNeil told U.S. News, according to The Inquisitr, “The carbon dioxide affects their brains and they lose their sense of direction and ability to find their way home. They don’t even know where their predators are.”
The UNSW study, published in the journal Nature, is the first global investigation into the impact of rising carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels on marine habitats and marine creatures. The results showed that hypercapnia could also affect not just marine fish, but coral reefs, ocean mammals, and entire marine ecosystems.
Hypercapnia basically causes fish to become “lost at sea.” With increased CO2 in the brain, fish and even marine mammals could lose their sense of direction, becoming lost and unaware of predators close by.
The researchers studied data on seasonal CO2 fluctuations in oceans covering the last 30 years. Then, using predictive models, along with predicted future CO2 emissions, they were able to determine future levels and the global effects of CO2 on marine life.
The team found that in some regions, like the North Atlantic, the Southern and Pacific oceans we can expected to see a 10-fold rise in CO2 levels unless human CO2 emissions are decreased. We can expect nearly half of all marine fish to suffer from hypercapnia when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the ocean rises higher than 650 parts per million. Right now, the current levels exceed 400 ppm.
McNeil will be the first to say that research into the effects of elevated CO2 emissions on marine life needs further study, and to that end, McNeil founded Thinkable.org, a website dedicated to oceanography and the understanding of carbon dioxide levels in the sea.
“We are challenging other scientists with innovative predictive approaches to download the dataset we used, employ their own numerical methods and share their final predictions, to see if they can beat our approach,” says NcNeil.
This study, “Future ocean hypercapnia driven by anthropogenic amplification of the natural CO2 cycle,” was published in the online journal Nature on January 20, 2016.
This study brings to mind a recent story in Digital Journal about the deaths of numerous sperm whales washed up on UK beaches in late January. While several explanations for the beachings have been suggested, increased CO2 concentrations in the marine mammals should be investigated.
