MATTHEW ABBOTTYears of high heat
and drought had
stressed mangroves
along hundreds
of miles of the Gulf
of Carpentaria coast.
Then the intense
El Niño of 2015-16
finished them off by
causing a temporary
16-inch drop in sea
level here, drying out
the trees’ roots. This
2021 photo shows lit-
tle recovery; the green
belongs to a short
mangrove species that
survived the die-off.AUSTRALIA
NORTHERN COAST39 MILLION MANGROVES
DIED OF THIRST HERE