A Canadian study found that the disruption of seawater chemistry and the acidification of fresh water due to climate change pose negative impacts on fishand other marine life.

Between fresh water and the seas, more studies on the impacts on the latter were done in the past. In the new study however, researchers found that the acidification of rivers affect the survival of young pink salmons- the most abundant fish in the Pacific Ocean.

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According to the study, acidification retards the growth and damages the olfactory senses — the ability to smell danger — of Pink salmons making them vulnerable to predators.

In the study, carbon dioxide level in a tank of freshwater was elevated to simulate future climate change conditions, The Globe And Mail reported.

A small Lego figurine was placed in the tank and researchers noted that instead of fleeing like what fishes normally do in non-acidic water, the pink salmon continued to boldly swim near the figure, apparently unafraid as their sense to smell danger were dampened.

It is not only pink salmons that are affected by the acidification of fresh water though. Colin Brauner, a co-author at the University of British Columbia, told Reuters that the damages brought about by chemical change "could occur in all other salmonids." Even oysters and lobsters will find it difficult to build protective shells.

Under the current carbon dioxide level in water, pink salmons grow at an average of 34 mm. When the gas concentration was almost doubled in the research however, the fishes grew at an average of only about 32 mm after 10 weeks.

In 2013, an international study noted that the acidification of oceans was occurring at the fastest pace of 55 million years brought about by human greenhouse emissions, CBC News has learned.

It is still too early to conclude that the disruptions among marine animals will last through future generations. Scientists after all consider adaptation and evolution among the creatures to cope with the increasing carbon dioxide levels in both sea and fresh waters.

The findings in the Canadian study were published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Tagspink salmon, acidification, Greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, Science, Study