Rip Currents Pose Greater Risk To Swimmers Than To Shoreline, Study Suggests

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - 21:28 in Earth & Climate

Rip currents -- powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from the shore -- represent a danger to human life and property. Rip currents are responsible for more than one hundred deaths on our nation's beaches each year, and if rip currents persist long enough they can cause beach erosion. However, researchers found that rip currents along at least one beach in Long Island, New York lasted on average a little over one minute, not long enough to substantially alter the shoreline.

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