How rip currents are formed and how to avoid drowning

The video explains how waves breaking over sandbars create circulation cells, leading to the formation of rip currents. These currents travel in narrow, fast-moving belts due to pressure gradients. The velocity of rip currents depends on wave height, ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 meters per second. Swimmers caught in rip currents should not swim against them but instead move along the current until it weakens, then swim parallel to the shore and back to safety.

What happens to the water level on the landward side when waves break over a sandbar?

How do longshore currents behave as they converge?

What factors influence the velocity of a rip current?

What should swimmers do when they encounter a rip current?

Describe the process of swimming out of a rip current.