Virtual Beach
Climate change-related effects on lake and coastal ecosystems—such as warming waters and intense precipitation—can result in unsafe conditions for recreation. Moreover, because standard E. coli tests can take more than 18 hours, local advisory decisions are frequently incorrect. Virtual Beach, a software package developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, allows users to generate statistical models to predict levels of disease-causing pathogens such as E. coli and enterococci at specific freshwater/saltwater beach sites.