The drastic effect of sea erosion. These stumps were once coconut trees that stood above the water line. The tsunami didn’t help matters either. Part of the reason that the south coast suffers such severe erosion is because of the illegal coral mining that is carried out. Coral is used to make lime used in mortar and plaster

A cliche photograph: a tropical beach with coconut trees swaying slowly in the gentle breeze. The beach is at Ahangama, on the south coast of Sri Lanka, close to Galle