The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef in the world composed of living organisms. This magnificent reef occupies the north-east coast of Australia extending 1,250 miles out into the open ocean and ranges between 10-100 miles off the coast depending on the location. It was first discovered in 1770 by James Cook through one of his early explorations for Britain. Since the coral reef was discovered and explored, it has since become an extremely popular tourist attraction. Actually, this gigantic reef is made up of lots of little individual coral reefs clumped together; making up a total area of 80,000 square miles.
The Great Barrier reef has a slightly greater water temperature between 21-28ºC or 69.8-82.4ºF and salinity levels averaging at approximately 35 parts/1000. The depth of the Great Barrier Reef is about 30 meters and the waters are nearly transparent from sea level down. Many organisms make this Australian Coral Reef their home; including over 350 different species of corals, sea anemones, and a massive variety of fish and birds.
As you can see below on the first graph, the average precipitation is the greatest at the very north and south tips of the Great Barrier Reef between 46.8 and 42.4 inches, going to about 11.5 inches by the middle coast and generally getting warmer from the edges in. You can see the precipitation levels have increased in various places and also decreased in other various places with no real obvious pattern. On the second graph, you can see the decline of living coral in the Great Barrier Reef from 1985 to 2012. The percentage of coral covering the ocean floor goes from an average of roughly 27% in 1985 to an average of roughly 10% in 2012. The reasons for this are because of the many affects of global warming including: environmental stress (causing less coral growth), lower amounts of water (warmer weather promoting more rain and more water run off so an actual loss of water), and corals dying in general because of increased temperatures (resulting in increased bleaching and death of corals).
The Great Barrier reef has a slightly greater water temperature between 21-28ºC or 69.8-82.4ºF and salinity levels averaging at approximately 35 parts/1000. The depth of the Great Barrier Reef is about 30 meters and the waters are nearly transparent from sea level down. Many organisms make this Australian Coral Reef their home; including over 350 different species of corals, sea anemones, and a massive variety of fish and birds.
As you can see below on the first graph, the average precipitation is the greatest at the very north and south tips of the Great Barrier Reef between 46.8 and 42.4 inches, going to about 11.5 inches by the middle coast and generally getting warmer from the edges in. You can see the precipitation levels have increased in various places and also decreased in other various places with no real obvious pattern. On the second graph, you can see the decline of living coral in the Great Barrier Reef from 1985 to 2012. The percentage of coral covering the ocean floor goes from an average of roughly 27% in 1985 to an average of roughly 10% in 2012. The reasons for this are because of the many affects of global warming including: environmental stress (causing less coral growth), lower amounts of water (warmer weather promoting more rain and more water run off so an actual loss of water), and corals dying in general because of increased temperatures (resulting in increased bleaching and death of corals).