Carbon Dioxide Causes Fish Ear Bones To Enlarge

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the ocean may cause fish ear bones (aka otoliths) to grow abnormally large, according to a new study to be released in the journal Science tomorrow.  Man, it's getting hard out there for an ocean.  As if things weren't bad enough with rising sea levels, increased temperatures and acidification, now there's going to be fish swimming around with freakishly large ear bones.  I suppose any superior navigational abilities gained from the larger bones won't help them much if there's nothing to eat in the ocean's dead zones. Dark humor aside, this should be a warning sign that we are only beginning to understand the devastating ramifications of heedlessly pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Just as pollution poured into our water and soil have disrupted entire ecosystems, if we continue to burn fossil fuels and emit excessive amounts of CO2 into the air the consequences will be dire.  Let's hope that the House passes the climate bill tomorrow after President Obama's urging today, we certainly can't afford to wait to see what else carbon emissions will alter.

Photo: bogenfreund's flickr photostream (creative commons)