From Nature.com, is there anything trace amounts of CO2 can’t do? As if clownfish (the test subject) don’t already act funny.
The New Scientist says:
Carbon dioxide in the ocean acts like alcohol on fish, leaving them less able to judge risks and prone to losing their senses. The intoxication adds to the threats that global warming and ocean acidification pose to marine ecosystems.
Here’s the paper in Nature Climate Change:
Near-future carbon dioxide levels alter fish behaviour by interfering with neurotransmitter function
Göran E. Nilsson, Danielle L. Dixson, Paolo Domenici, Mark I. McCormick, Christina Sørensen, Sue-Ann Watson & Philip L. Munday
Nature Climate Change (2012) doi:10.1038/nclimate1352
Received 18 August 2011, Accepted 29 November 2011, Published online 15 January 2012
Abstract:
Predicted future CO2 levels have been found to alter sensory responses and behaviour of marine fishes. Changes include increased boldness and activity, loss of behavioural lateralization, altered auditory preferences and impaired olfactory function1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Impaired olfactory function makes larval fish attracted to odours they normally avoid, including ones from predators and unfavourable habitats1, 3. These behavioural alterations have significant effects on mortality that may have far-reaching implications for population replenishment, community structure and ecosystem function2, 6. However, the underlying mechanism linking high CO2 to these diverse responses has been unknown. Here we show that abnormal olfactory preferences and loss of behavioural lateralization exhibited by two species of larval coral reef fish exposed to high CO2 can be rapidly and effectively reversed by treatment with an antagonist of the GABA-A receptor. GABA-A is a major neurotransmitter receptor in the vertebrate brain. Thus, our results indicate that high CO2 interferes with neurotransmitter function, a hitherto unrecognized threat to marine populations and ecosystems. Given the ubiquity and conserved function of GABA-A receptors, we predict that rising CO2 levels could cause sensory and behavioural impairment in a wide range of marine species, especially those that tightly control their acid–base balance through regulatory changes in HCO3− and Cl− levels.
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The Daily Bayonet sums up this research pretty well:
That researchers chose the colorful and movie-famous clownfish as the subject for their study instead of the toadfish or other, less photogenic, aquatic reef dwellers, has nothing to do with winning headlines and funding. Probably.
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So these fish species are evolutionary dead ends given the natural wide variation of CO2 locally in the ocean. If CO2 screws them up how did they survive until now.
Now this is an article I agree with (hic). Has the same damned effect on me.
Predicted future CO2 levels have been found….
Can someone read the paper and see what that is?
..then someone explain how you could be CO2 levels up that high in sea water?
According to these nubnuts, the water would become so acid the fish would have long ago died…..
Ahhh… now we know how herrings get pickled.
I don’t want to know because I think I know the answer, but who is funding this stuff?
AGW…the greatest boon to researchers ever invented. Never mind so much of it is garbage.
There’s a good reason why they act like ‘clowns’…….just sayin’.
I wonder how these clever people can come up with such a stupid imagination…..
That researchers chose the colorful and movie-famous clownfish as the subject for their study instead of the toadfish or other, less photogenic, aquatic reef dwellers, has nothing to do with winning headlines and funding. Probably.
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Well, Clownfish, besides being able to be bread in captivity, have a lot of characteristics that make them more suited then other marine species for study. That being said, this whole line of research is bunk. BTW, I have actually kept Clownfish in elevated CO2 conditions so I can really call BS on this.
Clownfish are naturally VERY aggressive. I seriously doubt that these kids playing scientist have any sort of useful metric.
as demonstrated many times, the higher up the food chain, the more impact it has, thus….the predators must be passed out on the sea floor….
“Carbon dioxide in the ocean acts like alcohol on fish, leaving them prone to losing their senses.”
___________________________________________________________________________
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere appears to have the same effect on certain scientists….
This is good news, with fish being less able to judge risks, fishing should get a whole lot easier, (since fish used to be great at judging risks) and the prices at your favorite seafood restaurant should be dropping.
Pu-leeeeeez. Add to their long list of iconic cute-creatures. Dolphins. Whales. Bears (though they are anything but cute close-up). Pandas. Nemo…er, Clownfish. Dumb it down to the media-star creatures.
Amazingly, Nemo is pictured swimming through a toxic forest of anemone tentacles, so yes indeed a little bit of CO2 is going to affect him???
And all the while never wonder how albino crabs and bizarre tube-worms thrive at the brink of acidic geothermal-spewing black smokers? These people have become shameless genuflectors to a cause akin to some wacky revivalist religion. The public is yawning. And forgive the sentiment, but I feel the urge to bitch-slap some sense into some of these ‘researchers’.
James Delingpole has provided a fine contribution to discussion of this latest piece of silliness, entitled “Losing Nemo”:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/
Honestly, what next? “Kittens lose will to live with increasing CO2”; or “Cute puppies to be a thing of the past, says climate researcher” or perhaps “Adorable foals at risk – we need to act now, says climate activist”.
They are really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
Although, a “Goldfish against CO2” movement might attract some fleeting interest.
“Predicted future CO2 levels have been found to alter sensory responses and behaviour of marine fishes. ”
Am I missing something here??? Is not a prediction something that may happen in the FUTURE,but has not yet occured ??
Sooooooo….how can something that has not happened “have been found to alter” any darn thing? I am so confuzzed. Any help?
“The pair reared clownfish (Amphiprion percula) larvae in seawater with normal (450 microatmospheres) and elevated (900 microatmospheres) CO2 levels.”
Apperantly 900microatmospheres is the CO2 level expected by the end of this century.
Reading the story on the magazine’s website make me think that this was one of those studies with a pre-decided outcome.
Time traveling CO2 molecules wreak havoc, drunken fish, melting glaciers, next cats and dogs living together, ohhh….
We will need a 12-step programme for fish: CO2 Anonymous.
Oh wait – how can fish take steps?
How this reads to me :
“Dang, they aren’t buying the acidification scare angle…… better come up with something else scary – how about CO2 drunken fish …. yeah, that sounds like a good new angle to keep the grant gravy train rolling “
So this is why we have drunken clowns at the beach in summer!
Clownfish. Well, let’s see somebody else repeat the study and see if the same results are obtained. WUWT had info on another study:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/04/co2-deafens-nemo-or-how-many-ichthyologists-can-you-fit-in-that-car/
It appears the warmists have given up on polar bears as their poster child. Somebody must have tipped them off that polar bears eat baby seals…
Next we’ll learn about killer shrimp.
What was the results of the runs made with reduced levels of CO2?????
gary murphy
So, are they saying the oceans are getting cooler, huh? Colder water means more co2 absorption (solubility). can’t have it both ways.
Next time I go trout fishing I’ll take along a bottle of CO2 and get the trout drunk enough to ‘trust me’. Maybe I can even convince them that I only want to take them out for dinner.
I can’t wait until warm weather when the suckers run.