Supersized Crabs are going to take over coastal areas of the Chesapeake Bay as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere increase, according to the Washington Post.

Researchers at University of North Carolina's Aquarium Research Center have discovered that higher atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, which is linked to global warming, is causing crabs to grow faster, bigger and stronger.

Carbon pollution pours from power plants, factories and vehicles, settling into the oceans and causing the elevated oceanic carbon levels and supersized crabs. Oceans absorb the atmospheric carbon dioxide, making the water more acidic and carbon-rich.

This is bad news for other ocean creatures within the crabs' ecosystem. Shellfish, including oysters, are a favorite food of crabs. The supersized crabs can decimate an oyster bed very quickly.

UNC marine geologist Justin Baker Ries told the Post, "Higher levels of carbon in the ocean are causing oysters to grow slower, and their predators - such as blue crabs - to grow faster."

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean superior crabmeat this summer. In addition, the supersized crabs have less meat than normal crabs, since they spend their energy growing and creating new shells, not in production of internal flesh.

It is common knowledge that as oceans have become more acidic, the shells of sea creatures have become thinner. The change in ocean water chemistry is particularly apparent in the coastal regions of the Northeastern U.S.

A 2009 study by UNC researchers found that Chesapeake blue crabs grew nearly four times faster in tanks containing water with high levels of carbon than in low-carbon tanks.

Such supersized crabs are also super-hungry. In a 2011 experiment, UNC researchers set crabs and oysters in a high-carbon tank environment. The Post reported that the resulting extermination of oysters by the crabs was "like watching lions tear apart lambs."

This problem isn't isolated to the Chesapeake Bay. Lobsters and shrimp are growing to the extreme from carbon dioxide along the Atlantic coast. Like oysters, the coral that helps protect small sea organisms from predators is hurt by the heightened levels of carbon dioxide.

It seems like Chesapeake Bay oysters are in trouble under ocean acidification. The Post reported, "As you're using up your energy, it could make you more vulnerable not just to predators [like the crab] but to disease."