Great Barrier Reef : Study
Water temperatures in and around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have risen to their warmest in 400 years over the past decade, according to a new study.
- Great Barrier Reef is a complex of coral reefs, shoals and islets in the Pacific Ocean.
- It is located off the northeastern coast of Australiain the Coral Sea.
- It is the longest and largest reef complex in the world. It is the largest living structure on Earth.
- It extends in roughly a northwest-southeast directionfor more than 2,300 km, at an offshore distance ranging from 16 to 160 km, and its width ranges from 60 to 250 km.
- It has an area of some 350,000 square km.
- The reef, which is large enough to be visible from space, is made up of nearly 3,000 individual reefs and over 900 islands.
- UNESCO declared the Great Barrier Reef a World Heritage Sitein 1981.
- Much of the Great Barrier Reef is a marine protected area, managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority of Australia.
- It is estimated that the reef is home to around 2000 species of fish and around 600 different coral species.
