[extropy-chat] Confirmed: Trees DO protect against tsunami waves

M.B. Baumeister mbb386 at main.nc.us
Sun Oct 30 00:45:49 UTC 2005


> So the conclusion is: -
> If you chop all the trees down to make money on coastal development
> with nice sea views, then you had better cash in quick and get your
> profits out before the next hurricane, storm surge or tsunami comes
> along and wipes it all away.
>

IIUC there are folks on the coast of Florida and South Carolina who know
about that too. If you walk or dune-buggy on all the dunes and destroy
them, there is no protection either. So avoid the dunes, leave the wild
grasses and sea-oats alone, let them do their thing. They help to hold the
beach front against the water.

Those great high-rises right next to the beach are bad news too, but in a
slightly different way. They make the wind off the sea curl back which
blows the sand away. Some coastal towns severely limit the height of the
buildings by the beach for just this reason.  This is my understanding
from conversation with a person from Boynton Beach, Florida.

I hope your report about the trees makes it into widespread public
knowledge so that folks can be guided by it in future. :)

Regards,
MB



More information about the extropy-chat mailing list