Texas 8th Grade ELA Question of the Day
Test your knowledge with a hand-picked multiple-choice question.
Coastal towns face stronger storms, and the damage has intensified. To protect neighborhoods, engineers plant seabed grasses and build oyster reefs. These living barriers do not stop waves completely, but they slow water, capture sediment, and give fish shelter. Because they reduce speed and height of incoming waves, they help to "mitigate" flooding. In contrast, bare shorelines offer no friction, so waves strike docks and roads with full force. After one pilot project, repair costs dropped, and streets reopened sooner; the cause was not luck but the reefs' steady buffering. The approach also improves water quality by filtering pollutants, a benefit traditional concrete walls cannot provide. By lessening hazards while supporting wildlife, these projects show how nature-based designs can protect people during severe coastal storms.
Based on the passage, what does the word "mitigate" most likely mean?