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Deaf Fish 海水酸化使鱼类失去听力

By Janet Barrie, BBC News

Clownfish

The clownfish was made popular by the film Finding Nemo

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Background: 科学家近日报告说，排入海洋中的化石燃料气体会使海水酸化，由此可导致海洋中的鱼类失去听力，并会给众多海洋生物的未来带来毁灭性的破坏。

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Spectacular tropical clownfish who live around ocean coral reefs rely heavily on their hearing, say scientists. It helps them find a mate, forage for food, and crucially avoid predators lurking in the depths.

Scientists from the University of Bristol in England bred baby clownfish then exposed different groups of them to different levels of carbon dioxide in the water around them -- one at today's levels, and the others at the levels the world's oceans are predicted to reach by 2050 and the year 2100.

They tested their hearing by piping into each tank the sounds of the coral reef -- those in today's conditions swam away from the noise of predators. Those in the mocked-up waters of the future showed no response, suggesting they couldn't hear.

Scientists say the more carbon dioxide we emit, the more oceans absorb and the more acidic the water becomes, and that has potentially devastating consequences for fish. What they don't know though is whether fish will be able to adapt and tolerate the changing waters.

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Questions:

1. Why do fish need hearing?

It helps them to find food, a sexual partner and avoid other animals that might eat them.

2. What did the clownfish do that made scientists think that they were deaf?

They didn't change their behaviour when noise of predators was played.

3. True or false? The ocean’s water becomes more acidic when it takes in carbon dioxide.

True. When dissolved into water it forms a weak acid called carbonic acid.

4. True or false? Scientists think that fish will find a way to live in acidic waters.

False. According to the report, researchers do not know if the fish will be able to adapt to the changing waters.