Comment on "Forest clearance boosted power of Cyclone Nargis"

Abstract

[Extract] This article implies that the destruction of the cyclone was intensified by recent loss of forest in Myanmar. However, neither the article nor those in the conservation movement making such statements have presented any evidence to support this. Much of the damage was caused by the 4 m storm surge and the associated flooding. There is, in fact, no empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that forest can reduce damage from storm surge or tsunami as the article also suggests. The comparison between cyclone Nargis and cyclone Sidr which struck Bangladesh in 1991 is, however, informative. But the difference in death toll between these events has nothing to do with differences in forests cover between locations as the article implies.