White is Nice, Green is Mean: Rip Currents
With the microwave weather picking up and the extended summer break in most Australian universities approaching in a couple weeks, more and more people are flocking to the beaches to cool off from the unbearable fury of the relentless sun. However, there is a coastal hazard that all beachgoers, swimmers and surfers alike, should be aware of. They’re called ‘rip currents’ and they occur pretty close to shore. It’s important to know how to escape one, so Professor Rob Brander, Deputy Head of School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences at the University of New South Wales, or “Dr. Rip” as he’s most commonly known, had a chat with Drive on the oceanographic phenomenon of rips.
Photo from Dr. Rip’s “Science of the Surf” website.
