1. “City beach or city dump? You be the judge.”
It has been a brutally hot summer in much of the country, with even Alaska hitting record-breaking temperatures in the 90s. That has many Americans seeking the cool comfort of the 7,000-plus coastal and Great Lakes public beaches, since we indeed love our shores: In 2012, beachgoers recorded a total of 275 million-plus visits for the sixth consecutive year, according to the United States Lifesaving Association. But what Americans don’t love is the fact that many beaches are shut down each summer, some of them more than once, due to water-quality issues. In eight out of the last nine years, 20,000-plus beach closings and advisories have been reported throughout the United States, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. And 80% of the closings are due to the fact that “bacteria levels in beach water exceeded public-health standards, indicating the potential presence of human or animal waste in the water,” says NRDC.
