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Just released today is the Natural Resources Defense Council's Testing The Waters 2009 report. It's a great guide for knowing which beaches are safe, and which need our help to get cleaned up.
The bad news is this year's report finds that pollution caused the number of beach closings and advisories to hit their fourth-highest level in the 19-year history of the report. According to the NRDC, "The number of 2008 closing and advisory days at ocean, bay and Great Lakes beaches topped 20,000 for the fourth consecutive year, confirming that our nation's beaches continue to suffer from serious water pollution that puts swimmers at risk."
The good news is promising developments could help us all improve the state of water monitoring at U.S. beaches, including the EPA updating its 20-year-old beachwater quality standards by 2012. This will make it easier to know just how safe the water is for both people and marine life.
You can already do something great to help out—participate in the Ban the Bags, Butts and Bottles Challenge!
And coming soon, we're going to give you some great tools for finding the healthiest beaches, thanks to this report and some handy online tools. Stay tuned!
Read more about oceans and water on Planet Green's Blue August.
More on Healthy Beaches:
Is it Safe to Go Back into the Water? How to Know if Your Beach is Clean
Dirty Beaches Inspire Graffiti and Found Art
Brooklyn's Polluted Water Worries Run So High, You Can Get Arrested for Swimming
