The green shield

 

 

Tsunamis and hurricanes have battered homes, destroyed cities and taken thousands of lives. And it is the coastal areas which have been a victim of their fury. But the news is not all gloom and doom. Scientists working along the south eastern coast of India have found that trees appear to protect seaside settlements from the worst effects of tsunami. When coastal India and Sri Lanka were hit by a massive tsunami, it caused wide scale destruction. But villages surrounded by trees, however, suffered far less damage than those without any protective cover. Scientists also say that mangrove forests have the same mitigating effect. Restoring the world’s coastal forests may well be the secret to survival when future tsunamis strike.