"An environmental group asked the U.S. government on Thursday to consider classifying the orange clownfish -- Nemo, to a whole generation of children -- as endangered."

"The growing acidity of the ocean threatens the tiny fish’s coral reef habitat, the Center for Biological Diversity said in its petition, which asks for the orange clownfish to be protected along with seven species of similarly coral-dependent damselfish.

'As we continue to emit greenhouse gas pollution, we are seeing more and more animals and plants in the U.S. and around the world that are in danger from climate change,' Shaye Wolf, the climate science director for the center, an Arizona-based advocacy and environmental law organization, said in an interview. 'This case is important because not a lot of people understand how much the ocean is being harmed by carbon pollution.'"

Erika Bolstad reports for McClatchy Newspapers September 13, 2012. [2]