High acidity levels in oceans harming marine life

LONDON - With acidity levels of the oceans going up greatly, it could harm marine life and consequently impact billions of people who rely on fish as their main protein source.

The new report, published by the UN Environment Programme during the Climate Change talks in Mexico, warns that ocean acifidication makes it harder for coral reefs and shellfish to form skeletons - threatening larger creatures that depend on them for food.

The decline in creatures with shells could trigger an explosion in jellyfish populations. Since the start of the industrial revolution, acidity levels of the oceans have gone up 30 percent, marine biologists say, reports the Daily Mail.

The report, written by Carol Turley of Plymouth University, UK, said: “Ocean acidification has also been tentatively linked to increased jellyfish numbers and changes in fish abundance.”

Jellyfish are immune to the effects of acidification. As other species decline, jellyfish will move in to fill the ecological niche.

Test on lab fish have found that more acidic water rewires their brains, turning them into fish with a death wish.