In the last decade, the annual reports released by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have revealed that Jamaica Bay, a wetland estuary within the New York Harbor, has poor water quality. Water quality can be determined by the measurements of elements that can be found in harbor water such as temperature, which has been found by previous experts to be related to other harbor water elements such as dissolved oxygen and Secchi depth. Therefore, our interest became finding any comparisons in water quality between seasons with varying temperatures. Through the use of water quality data provided publicly by the DEP, we were able to conduct a close data analysis of how temperature relates to dissolved oxygen and Secchi depth in the months of January and July over three decades.
New York inhabitants, both human and non-human, heavily depend on healthy harbor water for daily needs and survival. Therefore, we must work towards constant maintenance of the important elements of harbor water to ensure that the water quality is kept within official environmental standards. Understanding how those elements relate to one another in different circumstances is the first important step in doing so.
