Residents in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York are barred from using an increasing number of beaches due to unsafe conditions. Several types of unhealthy bacteria have been found, plus there's a seeming rise in shark attack risk.Â
Why are they closing? Swimming in the ocean this summer may be risky. Germs "found in the water and sand often come from human or animal feces," said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Germs can be "carried into swim areas by heavy rain," and water "contaminated with these germs can make you sick if you swallow it."Â
Several beaches in California, Massachusetts and Michigan had enterococci in the water, which "commonly cause urinary tract infections and can also cause blood infections and endocarditis, an inflammation of the lining of the heart's valves and chambers," said ABC News. Two Massachusetts beaches were found to contain cyanobacteria, which if ingested can cause "headaches, stomach pain, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea." Other beaches contained E. coli, which can cause gastrointestinal issues.Â
What can be done? The CDC recommends avoiding bodies of water that look cloudy or have drainage pipes feeding into them and avoiding swimming if you suffer from an illness or have an open cut. Heavy rains "after long periods of drought can pick up animal or human excrement, which can then be carried by runoff into nearby bodies of water, including oceans," said ABC News. Heavy rains can also cause "sewage systems to overflow," resulting in "untreated sewage to likewise contaminate bodies of water."
Climate change may lead to more beach closures. "Bacteria like warmer waters, and climate change is increasing the average temperature of water bodies," said Boston.com. Further, climate change "causes more extreme weather events," which means "when it rains, we get more rain all at once."Â
Sharks have also been able to spread in the warming oceans. "One of the consequences of a changing climate is that it gets warmer further north, so areas that were not habitable to the animal now are," Yannis P. Papastamatiou, a professor at Florida International University's Predator Ecology and Conservation Lab, said to Newsweek. |