Study says climate changes will make fish smaller

Posted on 01 October 2012

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Fish are likely to get smaller by 2050, according to a new study.

"The reductions in body size will affect whole ecosystems," lead author William Cheung of the University of British Columbia in Canada told Reuters about the findings in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study’s authors attribute the size difference to changes in the climate.

The study predicts that changes in the climate will continue to warm the world’s oceans. Blamed on humans burning fossil fuels, the condition will make life harder for fish in the oceans largely because warmer water can hold less dissolved oxygen, vital for respiration and growth, the scientists said.

"As the fish grow bigger and bigger it will be difficult to get enough oxygen for growth. There is more demand for oxygen as the body grows. At some point the fish will stop growing," Cheung said of the study, based on computer models.

Click here for the full Reuters report and click here for the full Nature Climate Change report.

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