National Geographic - UK (2022-05)

VICTOR MORIYAMA

Six months after
Australia’s mangrove
die-off in 2015, the
same El Niño caused
a storm that hit man-
groves in the estuary
of the Piraquê-Mirím

River. Drought had

stressed the trees,

partly by boosting

the water’s salinity.

Hail and wind killed

nearly a third of them.

Globally, the main

threat to mangroves—

clearing for timber or

farming—has declined.

But climate change is

a rising concern.

BRAZIL

SOUTHEAST COAST

FIRST CAME THE

DROUGHT, THEN THE

DEVASTATING HAIL