THE first report on how acid seas could directly alter animal behaviour has emerged, just days after 150 marine scientists released a to draw attention to rising ocean acidity 鈥� dubbed global warming鈥檚 evil twin.
Rising carbon dioxide emissions have already driven ocean acidity up by a third. This was expected to make it hard for sea creatures like coral and oysters to grow skeletons. But an Australian team led by of James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, has found a possibly more worrying consequence.
Munday鈥檚 team raised clownfish (Amphiprion percula) larvae in either regular seawater or seawater with an acidity equivalent to 1000 parts per million of CO2 鈥� predicted by 2100 if we don鈥檛 curb emissions.
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Clownfish larvae smell their way to a safe home. While those grown in acidic water were drawn to a tropical tree called the golden penda 鈥� a sign of a suitable reef 鈥� they were no longer repelled by tea tree leaves, which might warn that there may be swamps (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ). They also did not avoid the scent of their parents, thought to stop inbreeding.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get away from the chemical impact of CO2 on the oceans,鈥� says Will Howard of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart, Tasmania. What鈥檚 more, geoengineering schemes would only tackle global warming, not acidification, he says.