Sea surface temperatures across much of the tropics have been increasing since the mid-1970's. At the same time, the growth of coral has been decreasing. Scientists examned data on mean sea surface temperatures (SST) in degrees Celsius and mean coral growth in millimeters(mm) per year over a several-year period at locations in the Red Sea. Here are the data:

SST 29.68 29.87 30.16 30.22 30.48 30.65 30.90

Growth 2.63 2.58 2.68 2.60 2.48 2.38 2.26

a) Do the data indicate that coral growth decreases linearly as SST increase? Is this change statistically significant?

b) Use the data to predict with 95% confidence the mean coral growth (millimeters per year) when SST is 30.0 degrees Celsius.